Volkswagen equipped almost 3 million cars in Germany with the software that allowed it to cheat on emissions tests, the country's transport minister said on Friday.

Volkswagen was already known to have cheated in the U.S. with 500,000 diesel vehicles being equipped with a special software that allowed it to pass emissions tests but then pollute when it wasn't being tested. The findings of the 3 million vehicles in Germany is almost six times the amount in the U.S., Reuters reports.

With the scandal that could affect 11 million vehicles worldwide, Volkswagen's CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down on Wednesday. Volkswagen quickly acted to replace Winterkorn, naming Porsche's head Matthias Mueller as the new CEO.

This is Volkswagen's biggest scandal in its 78-year history. Mueller wants to be a part of the fresh start that Winterkorn said that the company needs when he stepped down earlier this week. Several other high-up employees in the company are also expected to be dismissed, including the top engineers of Audi and Porsche.

Shares of Volkswagen have been plunging ever since the news of the scandal became public. The market value of the company has been losing billions of euros as well. 

First, it was the news of the 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. that were found to be part of the emissions cheating, and then it was an undetermined number in Europe where Volkswagen sells the majority of their cars. Now it's almost 3 million in Germany alone.

"VW needs to be very open about what has happened, how it was possible that this could happen to make sure that this never happens again in the future," said a leading Volkswagen shareholder, underlining the importance of the board meeting.

Cars said to have the software will have to be refitted with proper software that controls pollution in all settings. Analysts hope the affected models will be announced before the end of Friday. 

The U.S. leadership at Volkswagen will also change, and Volkswagen hopes to strengthen its North America region, ABC News reports.