VW Is Seeking Dieselgate Damages From Its Former Executive And The Former Audi Boss
VW Is Seeking Dieselgate Damages From Its Former Executive And The Former Audi Boss. As the industry continues its drive to go green, VW is still feeling the fallout from its emissions scandal. Friday saw the firm announce it was seeking damages from former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn and Former Audi boss Rupert Stadler over the so-called ‘dieselgate’.
Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to using illegal software to rig diesel engine tests in the United States, sparking the biggest crisis in its history. The scandal has cost it more than $38 billion in fines, refits, and legal costs. Winterkorn’s lawyers said in a statement that the former CEO regretted the Supervisory Board’s decision and rejected the accusations against him. Stadler’s lawyers declined to comment.
The Volkswagen emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Volkswagen Group. The agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing, which caused the vehicles’ NO x output to meet US standards during regulatory testing, while they emitted up to 40 times more NO x in real-world driving. Volkswagen deployed this software in about 11 million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, in model years 2009 through 2015.
The German group said on Friday that following a far-reaching legal investigation it had concluded that Winterkorn and Stadler had breached their duty of care, adding it had found no violations by other members of the management board. Winterkorn and Stadler have both denied being responsible for the scandal.
Volkswagen shortened to (VW) is a German automaker founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front, known for the iconic Beetle and headquartered in Wolfsburg. It is the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automaker by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group’s biggest market is in China, which delivers 40% of its sales and profits. Popular models of Volkswagen include Golf, Jetta, Passat, Atlas, and Tiguan.
