German Prosecutors Waste No Time With Criminal Cases Against VW Leadership

German prosecutors have opened an investigation into former Volkswagen Group boss Martin Winterkorn as a result of the emissions scandal that has engulfed the company.

The prosecutor’s office in Germany has said that Winterkorn is being investigated over “allegations of fraud in the sale of cars with manipulated emissions data.”

In Germany, anyone can file a complaint with the prosecutors, and several were filed as a result of the emissions scandal last week. The prosecutors then decide whether to open a formal investigation, which has now happened.

Several VW executives are also reported to be on official leave from the company, with Audi R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg, VW R&D chief Heinz Jakob Neusser and Porsche board member Wolfgang Hatz all said to be suspended.

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TheSteve - 9/29/2015 1:45:22 PM

+2 Boost

Time for an insight folks: This is NOT an exceptional case of some rogue employee, acting alone, in a manner that is inconsistent with The Corporation's values and operating principles.

This is a reflection of what this company is, and how they do business.

Sadly, they're not the only company who places exceptionally high value on money and profit, at the expense of honesty, integrity, and environmental responsibility.

MDarringer - 9/29/2015 7:24:45 PM

+4 Boost

@TheSteve BINGO!!!

mre30 - 9/29/2015 4:38:19 PM

+2 Boost

So, I anticipate that the next shoe to drop in this scandal is the question if VW (and perhaps other automakers) has also been using emissions software tweaks to improve the emissions results of big-displacement engines - (VW's W12 twin turbo in Bentley's, W16 turbo in Bugatti, Lambo V10/V12, and any number of Porsche engines - not to mention Mercedes AMG and BMW "M" powertrains).

The fact that VW 2.0L diesels curiously never seemed to need Ad-Blue fluid to pass emissions tests (unlike EVERY OTHER passenger car diesel out there) just didn't add up. In my mind, what also doesn't add up is how such powerful engines can consistently run while meeting emissions standards.

I assume that there are testing bodies lining up right now to reconfigure the tests to "trip-up" cheater software and get to the bottom of it.

Thoughts?

MDarringer - 9/29/2015 7:25:52 PM

+1 Boost

The better question is what was the purpose of the cheating software in the first place? Answer: NONE.

mre30 - 9/29/2015 8:15:19 PM

+4 Boost

The sole purpose of the cheating software is to shave money out of the cost to manufacture their 2.0 TDI powerplant for the VW/Audi econoboxes - which would basically be the added cost of the urea/Ad Blue system (probably $200 - $500 per vehicle).

Do the math - how many TDI's sold since 2010 or so worldwide? Its a huge savings. They basically used the software to "squeak by" the emissions tests. However, I'm sure they tried the same thing on the 3.0L V6 TDI but found that they couldn't plausibly get away with it.

Its added profits pure and simple.

TheSteve - 11/23/2015 1:48:31 PM

+1 Boost

mre30: The other reason for the cheat software is to make their vehicles stand out from the crowd and appear to be more competitive, more appealing. The VW diesels are known for their exceptionally high fuel economy. Saving money on fuel is a good reason to buy one, from the consumer's perspective. Now we know know that that high fuel economy came at the price of up to 40x legal levels of NOx under real world conditions. We've also learned that VW lied on CO2 emissions and on fuel economy numbers. These false numbers (when believed to be true) would be further reason to buy a VW diesel (the UK and some other European countries tax car owners annually based on CO2 emissions). Of course, more vehicles sold equals more profit for VW, so as you stated before, all the reasons for cheating and lying were profit driven.