The Witch Hunt Continues As Audi CEO Comes Under Fire For DieselGate Knowledge

Dieselgate first did cost the job of Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkon, then it decapitated Volkswagen Group’s leadership. One man appeared to be immune: Audi’s CEO Rupert Stadler. Yesterday, the toxic scandal reached the Teflon-covered Audi chief. Investigators of the Jones Day lawfirm, engaged to get to the bottom of the scandal, want to know from Stadler what he knew about the defeat devices, and when did he know it, Germany’s Spiegel Magazin says.

If Volkswagen insiders are surprised, then about what took so long. Early into the scandal, the Volkswagen rumor mill was abuzz with talk about Stadler impending departure, and the gossip treated Audi’s sales chief Dietmar Voggenreiter as Stadler’s likely successor.

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MDarringer - 9/21/2016 9:03:33 AM

-1 Boost

How could he have NOT known?

If VW was serious about change, they would have hired several new executives from outside the company to replace those who were/are the problem.

TheSteve - 9/21/2016 11:20:50 AM

0 Boost

VW is still covering their butts, "digging for the truth" and "cooperating with authorities" while authorities complain that they're being stonewalled every step of the way.

We've also seen scapegoating amongst the proles, like the engineer who broke rank, spilled the beans to investigators, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his co-operation.

Agent009 - 9/21/2016 12:29:22 PM

+1 Boost

Was he sentenced yet? I knew he was facing 5 years In prison

MDarringer - 9/21/2016 9:36:08 PM

0 Boost

I want to know when they are going to arrest Piech, or did Piech run to Argentina like a good NAZI?

mre30 - 9/22/2016 7:34:51 AM

0 Boost

Couple of observations...

(a) No one died as a result of diesel gate.

(b) While a portion of the general public is upset, diesel gate has elicited only a 'shoulder shrug' from another significant subset of the population who are more upset about the fact that 'lawyers run everything' in America and create too much regulation and too many stupid rules for minimal benefit.

(c-1) The existence of these people who are tired of being 'lectured-to' by so-called 'leaders' in the government who think of themselves as 'smarter than the general public' or feel they are entitled to make up rules arbitrarily (i.e., many democratic leaders - including Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mario Cuomo, and Eric Schneiderman - Attorney General of NY) that have no real world benefit except for increasing the cost of doing business and/or increasing the penalties/pitfalls payable back to the government.

(c-2) Re-read point (c-1) above - it is why Trump is able to gain traction in America (and might win) and it is why "Brexit" passed in Britain. People are so pissed and so frustrated with government - that they may throw caution to the wind and elect a Trump just to be rid of the 'lawyers who run/ruin everything' (and/or the bureaucrats who run the EU in Brussels).

(d) Basically, on some level, all this regulation becomes just another tax to be paid. For example, if you take a big picture view, trucks pump out all kinds of diesel emissions compared to cars but VW will have to pay out billions for adding a relatively tiny amount of pollution, relative to the pollution of trucks (and ships and planes for that matter).

(e) On some level, all this governmental regulation is becoming a comedy of the absurd.

(g) Most Americans would welcome junking the old, selective/arbitrary rules and replacing them with simple, sensible, and consistent ones - but we all know that will never happen.