German car giant Volkswagen is set to replace chief executive Matthias Mueller yesterday, as it seeks to turn the page on the "dieselgate" emissions scandal that has dogged the company since 2015, reports AFP from Berline.

The supervisory board of the world's leading carmaker will meet a day ahead of schedule and announce its decisions in a statement, a source close to the company told the news agency.

The meeting will begin at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) and end "late in the evening", the source said.

Volkswagen on Tuesday announced it was considering reshuffling its board and replacing Mueller, in a move that sent stocks in the company surging.

Mueller had "signalled he was open to play a part in the changes" in conversations with supervisory board chief Hans Dieter Poetsch, the company said.

German business newspaper Handelsblatt and national news agency DPA reported Herbert Diess, head of the VW brand -- one of the group's 12 makes of cars, trucks and motorbikes -- was slated to take Mueller's place.

Mueller, a former chief executive of sportscar-building VW subsidiary Porsche AG,

was brought in to replace Martin Winterkorn in 2015 and was contracted to serve until 2020.

Longtime CEO Winterkorn quit days after the firm admitted to installing software in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide designed to cheat regulatory emissions tests in a scandal that became known as "dieselgate".

Mueller, 64, has steered the mammoth carmaker into a massive restructuring, aiming to offer electric versions of many of its models and slim down its operations over the coming decade.

On his watch, the VW group last year held on to its title as the world's largest carmaker and made a net profit of 11.4 billion euros ($14 billion).