The Department of Justice, in announcing indictments against six VW employees, alleged that VW tried to conceal information from the EPA about emissions discrepancies in its diesel vehicles.
Showing posts with label VW Scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VW Scandal. Show all posts
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Friday, December 22, 2017
Merry Christmas? VW fires 'dieselgate' executive in his US jail cell
The US government put a VW Exec in prison for the emission scandal, yet the FORECLOSURE KING, Steven Mnuchin who put Americans on the street gets appointed TREASURY SECRETARY?
Hold on to your wallets!
Even as the Trump cronies seek to destroy emission standards, the Clean Air Act, allow Dirty Coal......
VW fires 'dieselgate' executive in his US jail cell
Photo: DPA
22 December 2017
Volkswagen has sacked an executive who was jailed for his role in the German automaker's "dieselgate" scandal - by sending a letter of dismissal to his US prison cell.
German newspaper Bild am Sonntag said it learned from sources close to the firm that Oliver Schmidt, who was this month sentenced to seven years in jail, was summarily dismissed in a letter sent to his prison in Milan, Michigan.
"His employer is leaving him in the lurch," the daily wrote, accusing Volkswagen of turning Schmidt into a "global scapegoat" for the emissions cheating scam.
The 48-year-old, who led Volkswagen's US regulatory compliance office from 2012 to March 2015, was arrested while on holiday in Miami in January.
In August, he pleaded guilty to charges he had conspired to commit fraud and violate the US Clean Air Act.
He was also ordered to pay a $400,000 fine.
Seven other current and former VW executives have been charged by US prosecutors, while several investigations into the cheating are ongoing in Germany.
VW admitted in 2015 to equipping about 11 million cars worldwide with defeat devices, including about 600,000 vehicles in the United States.
The scam allowed the cars to dupe emissions tests while emitting up to 40 times the permissible levels of harmful nitrogen oxide during actual driving.
The scandal has so far cost the auto giant over € 25 billion in fines, settlements and remediation.
"His employer is leaving him in the lurch," the daily wrote, accusing Volkswagen of turning Schmidt into a "global scapegoat" for the emissions cheating scam.
The 48-year-old, who led Volkswagen's US regulatory compliance office from 2012 to March 2015, was arrested while on holiday in Miami in January.
In August, he pleaded guilty to charges he had conspired to commit fraud and violate the US Clean Air Act.
He was also ordered to pay a $400,000 fine.
Seven other current and former VW executives have been charged by US prosecutors, while several investigations into the cheating are ongoing in Germany.
VW admitted in 2015 to equipping about 11 million cars worldwide with defeat devices, including about 600,000 vehicles in the United States.
The scam allowed the cars to dupe emissions tests while emitting up to 40 times the permissible levels of harmful nitrogen oxide during actual driving.
The scandal has so far cost the auto giant over € 25 billion in fines, settlements and remediation.
In arguing for the seven-year sentence, prosecutors said Schmidt had participated in "one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in American history" and led efforts to cover up the company's misconduct in the summer of 2015.
But Bild said Schmidt was far from alone in knowing about the scheme, and accused Volkswagen of trying to pin the blame "on a single engineer".
"Dozens, if not hundreds of employees were aware of the emissions fraud," it wrote.
MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS
Trump Picks Foreclosure King Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary
Five years ago, foreclosed homeowners protested on the lawn of Steve Mnuchin’s Bel-Air mansion for his company’s ‘repulsive’ practices. Now he’ll be Trump’s secretary of the Treasury.
11.29.16
After an effort to purge lobbyists from his quickly arranged transition team, President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on a “drain the swamp” message, is set to promote another swamp-dweller to a high-ranking position in his administration.
Trump is set to announce that Steven Mnuchin will be his Treasury secretary, per a recommendation from his own transition team, the Associated Press reports.
Mnuchin served as Trump’s national finance chairman during the campaign after a long history in private investment banking and on Wall Street. Like Trump himself, Mnuchin was a donor to Hillary Clinton in prior campaigns. According to filings from the Federal Election Commission, he has contributed more than $8,000 to Clinton since 2000.
Prior to joining the team, Mnuchin worked at Goldman Sachs for 17 years and OneWest Bank, which got into hot water for a series of attempted home foreclosures after the 2008 housing bubble burst. He also founded RatPac-Dune Entertainment, a movie-production company that bankrolled Avatar, as well as other films. After OneWest was sold to CIT Group in 2015, Mnuchin went on to serve on its board and became the chairman and chief executive of the private investment firm Dune Capital Management.
During his tenure at OneWest, the bank was responsible for attempting to remove families from their homes against the families’ wills.
A New York judge erased $525,000 in mortgage debt owed by a Long Island couple to OneWest Bank in 2009 because the institution was harassing them. Suffolk County Judge Jeffrey Spinner blasted the bank’s “harsh, repugnant and repulsive” acts as they attempted to toss the family out on the street around Thanksgiving.
Spinner wrote that the bank refused to work out a deal with the couple to help make mortgage payments they owed and called the bank’s conduct “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious, and opprobrious,” according to a report by the New York Post.
Friday, October 27, 2017
NHTSA launches pilot program to alert owners of uncompleted auto recalls
Below are 2 photos of injuries sustained from exploding TAKATA AIRBAGS:
NHTSA launches pilot program to alert owners of uncompleted auto recalls
Reuters
WASHINGTON -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is funding a pilot program that will notify drivers in the state of Maryland if there are open, uncompleted recalls at the time that they register their vehicles.
The government says only about 70 percent of auto safety recalls have led to repairs or resolution of the problematic issues.
Automakers, who have recalled record numbers of vehicles in recent years, have struggled to convince millions of owners of vehicles with potentially faulty Takata airbags to get the necessary repair work done.
The number of U.S. vehicle recall campaigns hit a record high in 2016 for a third consecutive year, with 927 separate recalls affecting 53.2 million vehicles.
That total was bloated by recalls of Takata airbag inflators, which can rupture and send deadly metal fragments flying, and are already linked to 18 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide. Those recalls will eventually cover about 125 million inflators, representing the largest single auto safety recall ever for a single issue.
As of June, more than 65 percent of 46.2 million previously recalled Takata inflators in the United States had not been repaired.
Congress gave NHTSA the authority to provide grant funding for up to six states that agreed to pilot programs to notify consumers of open recalls on their vehicles at the time of registration, but Maryland was the only state to apply.
"This first-in-the-nation grant will serve as an example to the rest of the country as we continue to work across government to reach consumers in new and creative ways with potentially life-saving information about their vehicles," Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.
Recalls jumped in 2014 after Congress held a series of hearings about major auto safety issues involving General Motors ignition switches and Takata airbags. In 2014, a record 63.95 million vehicles were recalled in the United States -- more than twice the previous record set in 2004.
Some automakers, such as Honda Motor Co., whose vehicles account for 17 of the 18 reported Takata-related deaths to date, are taking additional steps to locate vehicles with the potentially dangerous inflators.
Extent of VW emissions cheating discussed earlier than known, report says
U.S. probes Ford Fusion cars over steering wheels that may detach
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
The Three Students Who Uncovered 'Dieselgate'
Out of Nowhere
The Three Students Who Uncovered 'Dieselgate'
The diesel emissions scandal has already cost Volkswagen 25 billion euros, and no end is it sight. But how
did it start? In a corrugated iron shack in the forests of West Virginia, discovered by a trio of university
students.
By Philipp Oehmke
October 23, 2017 10:26 AM
Part 1: The Three Students Who Uncovered 'Dieselgate'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Out of Nowhere
The Three Students Who Uncovered 'Dieselgate'
By Philipp Oehmke
October 23, 2017 10:26 AM
Part 2: Taken for a Ride
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Volkswagen not cooperating with Ontario probe of emissions 'cheat devices': court documents
Volkswagen not cooperating with Ontario probe of emissions 'cheat devices': court documents
If the responses from VW’s Canadian office were getting chilly, the apparent feedback from VW in Germany was out-and-out frigid, investigators suggest
Ontario’s environment ministry investigators probing the international Volkswagen emissions scandal accuse officials with the German automobile company of not fully cooperating in their investigation.
Internal communication between Volkswagen and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change reveal increasing friction over two years of scrutinizing VW’s use of “cheater devices” on vehicles to evade environmental regulations.
From VW’s head office in Germany refusing to accept couriered letters from the ministry to VW Canada’s employees appearing reluctant to speak, several complaints about a lack of assistance are contained in a sworn affidavit in support of a search warrant for VW Canada’s headquarters in Ajax, Ont.
“We do not view the level of cooperation we have received as consistent with this commitment to your customers or the assertions of your counsel,” a ministry investigator wrote in a July letter to VW’s president, Maria Stenstroem, according to the affidavit, called an Information to Obtain, or ITO, filed in court.
The ITO notes VW’s public statement to customers on its website says VW Canada “will cooperate fully with the Ontario Government’s investigation.”
The Ontario probe stems from stunning revelations two years ago of software in some of VW’s diesel vehicles designed to hide the amount of contaminants released during emission tests. In the United States, VW agreed to pay more than $20 billion to settle criminal charges and civil claims over the scheme.
Ontario has now charged Volkswagen AG, the parent company in Germany of VW Canada, with breaching the province’s Environmental Protection Act by causing or permitting motor vehicles to operate with higher than allowed emission levels.
The breadth of the ministry’s investigation is highlighted in the court filing.
The ITO lists three “suspects”: VW’s parent company in Wolfsburg, Germany, and two wholly owned subsidiaries: Volkswagen Canada Group Inc. and Audi Canada Inc.
The ministry alerted VW to its investigation in October 2015 in a written request to Stenstroem for cooperation and information. The letter sought various types of information, according to the ITO.
The reply came from VW’s lawyer, Teresa Dufort, saying the company would cooperate and, a month later, some information was provided to investigators.
“No one currently employed at VGCA had knowledge of the software described… until after the disclosures” in the United States in 2015, Dufort wrote, according to the ITO.
Thus began a series of what appear to be increasingly strained exchanges between the ministry and the company.
VW suggested the province was wading into federal affairs and that since VW Canada only imported cars, not made them, investigators’ resources were misplaced. VW sought assurances information would remain confidential. VW complained the requests were becoming “very onerous” in terms of workload and “tenuous” in terms of value.
The investigators’ replies often noted missing information or answers they felt were incomplete and usually asking additional questions. They started requesting interviews with specific VW employees. The ministry also asked if VW would loan the ministry a 2011 and 2013 diesel Jetta for its testing, but a response is not noted in the ITO.
If the responses from VW’s Canadian office were getting chilly, the apparent feedback from VW in Germany was out-and-out frigid, investigators suggest in the ITO.
On May 12, 2016, a letter from investigators was sent through Purolator courier to Matthias Müller, the chief executive officer of Volkswagen AG in Germany who was named to the post after the resignation of his predecessor in the wake of the emissions scandal.
The package was refused, the ITO claims.
The ministry asked VW Canada’s lawyer to help deliver the letter to VW’s parent company. A response is not noted.
By July, ministry investigators were showing up at VW headquarters and phoning company officials asking for information they felt was missing. VW’s lawyer complained of the in-person visits over a voluntary request.
VW was cooperating “but is concerned about the tenor of the communications,” VW wrote to the ministry, according to correspondence quoted in the ITO.
In August, investigators went to more than two dozen VW dealerships around Ontario asking more than 60 employees what they new about the cheat scheme and when they first knew of it.
The ITO notes a lengthy series of questions investigators asked employees at various levels.
“The second series of questions related to whether the witnesses had any idea there was something wrong with the car because of the service they were performing on the car and whether they became aware they were working on an emission defeat device,” the ITO says.
Many of the employees said they first learned of the emissions scandal through the news media, the ITO says.
Some dealership managers said they attended a meeting in Toronto with VW officials and then had online meetings for updates. One described the meetings as “crisis management,” according to the ITO.
What was on the dealers’ minds at the meetings, one dealer told investigators, was “How do they stay in business,” the ITO says.
Little of the meetings were of a technical nature about the cheat devices, beyond company officials telling them their engineers are looking at it, the ITO says.
Service technicians and managers at dealerships generally told investigators they had no knowledge of what the software did, according to the ITO.
On July 21, investigators went to VW Canada’s headquarters to try to speak with two staff members they had been asking to interview, according to the ITO. They were told they would need to make an appointment. Later, the ministry was told the employees were on vacation.
On Aug. 3, an investigator went to the VW Canada’s headquarters to hand deliver a letter to Stenstroem asking to interview her.
“As part of its plea agreement in the United States, Volkswagen AG has admitted to certain facts in relation to the after sale modification of North American Volkswagen vehicles that had the defeat device, and these modifications occurred after you joined Volkswagen Canada,” the letter said, according to the ITO.
The next day, an email from VW’s lawyer said Stenstroem needed time to “obtain independent legal advice” before answering the investigators.
At the time of the raid on VW’s headquarters on Sept. 19, a VW Canada spokesman said: “We’ll continue to co-operate with them until they have the information they require … We’re not hiding anything.”
In correspondence with investigators quoted in the ITO, VW Canada denied contravening the environmental act.
Thomas Tetzlaff, a spokesman for VW Canada said: “Volkswagen Canada has not seen the document. It would not be appropriate to comment.”
Both electronic and paper documents were taken in the raid, according to an evidence log entered in court after the search — including binders, files and agenda taken from Stenstroem’s desk drawers and shelves and a box from her office windowsill.
Copies were taken of some employee’s computers, file folders and internal user directories. Also taken were copies of PowerPoint presentations.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Ontario environment ministry raids Volkswagen Canada as part of emissions scandal probe
Ontario environment ministry raids Volkswagen Canada as part of emissions scandal probe
This comes two years after a global emissions scandal involving several Volkswagen models erupted. The fallout prompted criminal charges and a major class action suit
Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Investigators, foreground, at Volkswagen headquarters in Ajax on Tuesday. Information to obtain the search warrant, which includes details of what the investigators were seeking, is sealed to the public until it has been fully executed. Peter J. Thompson/National Post
Joseph Brean and Adrian Humphreys
September 19, 2017
AJAX, Ont. — Investigators for Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change raided the headquarters of Volkswagen Canada on Tuesday morning, executing a search warrant as part of the massive international investigation into “cheat devices” meant to evade emissions regulations.
A team of 24 officers, including computer experts from the Ministry of Finance, arrived at the Volkswagen Canada campus in Toronto’s eastern suburbs at 9:30 a.m., seeking evidence to support a newly laid charge against Volkswagen AG, the automaker’s German parent company, for violating Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act.
When asked if the company was co-operating with the warrant, ministry investigator Warren Korol said: “I’m not certain yet, we’re still searching.”
As of noon, they had not removed anything, but an agent could be seen carrying a large cooler into the building, and a ministry van was parked by the reception door.
“In any search warrant, there’s always a list of things we’re searching for, and if we find those things, yes, we’ll be seizing them,” Korol said.
The information to obtain the search warrant, which includes details of what the investigators were seeking, is sealed to the public until it has been fully executed. The raid was not co-ordinated with other jurisdictions, nor were there simultaneous raids, Korol said.
Thomas Tetzlaff, Volkswagen Canada’s manager of public relations, said the investigators came unannounced, and that the company is co-operating. “We’ll continue to co-operate with them until they have the information they require,” he said. He said he did not know if they had taken anything yet.
“This kind of came out of the blue for us,” he said. “As such, it’s not something we find worrisome or troubling.
http://nationalpost.com/news/ontario-environment-ministry-raids-volkswagen-canada-as-part-of-emissions-scandal-probe
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Lower Saxony premier says VW vetted Dieselgate speech
Lower Saxony premier says VW vetted Dieselgate speech
The premier of one of Germany's biggest states says he allowed Volkswagen to vet a 2015 speech about the automaker's emissions fraud. For nearly 60 years, VW has been given special status under the law in Lower Saxony.
Lower Saxony's state premier partially denied a report in Sunday's Bild newspaper that he softened speeches critical of Volkswagen's diesel emissions fraud at the company's request.
However, Stephan Weil's office has confirmed that the state premier sent the speech to VW's chief lobbyist and lawyers for vetting before he delivered it. According to Weil's office, with US lawsuits pending, he wanted "to ensure that no legally or factually inaccurate statements were made."
A VW employee reportedly told Bild that Volkswagen "rewrote and watered down" Weil's October 2015 speech to the state legislature about the company's dangerous diesel fraud. "This was no fact check," the employee told Bild.
In the speech, Weil called VW "a pearl of German industry."
High penalties
VW executive Oliver Schmidt, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US government and violating the Clean Air Act, faces up to $750,000 (637,000 euros) in fines and seven years in prison. In 2016, some top VW managers accepted cuts to their bonuses. The fraud has cost VW as much as $25 billion so far, though Volkswagen reported sales revenue of 217.3 billion euros ($256 billion) for 2016.
Though the industry has attempted to dismiss the issue, diesel fumes are a major contributor to global climate change and, more immediately, to cancers and cardiovascular conditions such as asthma. The overall environmental and public health effects of VW's fudged numbers have not yet been calculated.
Several top German politicians have connections to the auto industry
Industry's long tentacles
Advocates have questioned whether the close ties between politicians and German carmakers have prevented the government from acting sooner to address the widening emissions fraud. Critics have also blasted the outcome of last week's diesel summit, saying that instead of insisting on harsher steps to rein in diesel emissions, German leaders have allowed lobbyists to sway them into adopting less onerous measures.
Politicians who have or have had consulting agreements with VW and other car industry behemoths include Daimler's chief lobbyist, Eckart von Klaeden, a Christian Democrat who worked under Merkel in the chancellery until 2013. His abrupt switch to the Mercedes manufacturer prompted an investigation by Berlin prosecutors and new rules on "cooling off" periods before politicians can make the common leap from governance and regulation to lucrative lobbying gigs. Top VW lobbyist Thomas Steg served as Lower Saxony's government spokesman until 2009.
Former Transportation Minister Matthias Wissmann has presided over the VDA auto industry lobby since 2007. Current ministry head Alexander Dobrindt has come under increasing pressure to explain how the German automaker was allowed to perpetuate international fraud under his watch.
Cem Ozdemir, Germany's top Greens politician, said the "conflation of politics and automotive industry" could damage the country's reputation and pose a "threat to the foundation of our market economy."
mkg/tj (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
DW RECOMMENDS
Dieselgate: the cozy ties between Germany's car industry and Berlin exposed
Even in the quiet summer months, Dieselgate and whispers of industry collusion loom large. Critics say Berlin should end its close friendship with carmakers. Both sides are currently holding a much-anticipated summit. (02.08.2017)
German transport minister Dobrindt to be grilled over VW emissions
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt is due to appear before a parliamentary committee on VW emissions cheating. Most notable though, is one figure - former VW chairman Ferdinand Piech - who won't be attending. (16.02.2017)
Top VW managers accept bonus cuts
Volkswagen's top executives have agreed to a "significant reduction" in their annual bonuses this year as Germany's largest car maker recovers from the fallout of its diesel engine-rigging scandal. (13.04.2016)
- Date 06.08.2017
http://www.dw.com/en/lower-saxony-premier-says-vw-vetted-dieselgate-speech/a-39985096
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Volkswagen accused of attempting to 'hoodwink' consumers over emissions cheating software
Volkswagen accused of attempting to 'hoodwink' consumers over emissions cheating software
Volkswagen has been accused of pressuring drivers to accept a software upgrade for vehicles implicated in the global emissions scandal, or face the possibility of no compensation.
Key points:
- Some drivers asked to sign waivers if they refused software fix offered as part of a recall
- Volkswagen says original version of waiver was handed out in error
- ACCC chairman says waiver is "outrageous" and fails to explain implications of software fix
The company asked some drivers to sign waivers if they refused the software fix being offered as part of a voluntary recall.
One document, headlined "Reporting Form for Recall Refusal" said if drivers declined the software upgrade they would "accept liability for any loss or damage that occurs as a result of your decision".
The ABC is aware of at least four versions of the document, with some using different language which states customers do still have rights under Australian Consumer Law if they refuse the upgrade.
The waivers are contained in a new affidavit filed in the Federal Court today, as part of a class action run by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of affected drivers.
Maurice Blackburn lawyer Jason Geisker alleged some dealers had also told customers they could not have their cars back unless they signed the form.
"It's just a stunning document — it really does put consumers in a position that they are forced to take up this voluntary recall and if they don't, they forever give up any rights they have against the company.
"Plainly that is not proper, plainly it's not enforceable, and plainly when Volkswagen sent those documents out it was trying to hoodwink consumers.
"This sort of behaviour is simply unacceptable."
A spokesman for Volkswagen said the original version of the waiver was handed out in error.
"Unfortunately, it appears that contrary to Volkswagen's instructions, a staff member at one dealer has handed out a form that was withdrawn and replaced nine months ago by one that more clearly states the owner's rights," a spokesman said.
"Dealers use such forms so that a reliable record of the recall can be kept.
"The recall is strongly recommended by Volkswagen but is voluntary — and the owner waives no legal rights if they choose to refuse it.
"As of last week more than 13,000 vehicles in Australia have had the software solution performed, in addition to more than 3 million in Europe."
Driver says Volkswagen was 'underhanded'
Tasmanian Volkswagen driver Andrew told the ABC that when he booked his car in for a service, the dealership appeared to be planning to perform the software upgrade without his knowledge.
"I'd describe is an upgrade by stealth," he said.
He said he did not want the software fix because he was worried it would affect the performance of his car.
"I didn't want them messing about with the engine performance to degrade what I have enjoyed for the last nine years," he said.
"We bought another [newer] diesel Volkswagen Golf a couple of years ago, but the comparison between the two vehicles show that the nine-year-old Eos has a much more sparkling performance than the supposedly much more powerful Golf."
ACCC describes waiver as 'outrageous'
The ABC sent copies of the waivers to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and chairman Rod Sims described the waiver as an "outrageous" document.
"We would urge anyone who's been presented with one of these forms to contact us, at accc.gov.au, and let us know what their experience has been."
Mr Sims said Volkswagen had not explained what the implications of the fix were.
"Does it affect the performance of the vehicle? It's not clear from that form — it's not clear whether people have had that explained to them, so they're being asked to accept a fix possibly without understanding what the implications are," he said.
"Secondly, they're not being told what liability they're taking on.
"Is it, for example, that your car might not meet design rules and might not be able to be driven on the road?
"That allegation is one that we're making and is at the heart of the court case that VW are vehemently defending."
In October, the ACCC's case will be heard jointly with the two class actions being run by Maurice Blackburn and Bannister Law.
Volkswagen told the ABC cars which have had the free software upgrade have been "confirmed by the Australian Government as conforming to relevant emissions standards".
"Solutions have now been approved by the Australian Government for the majority of affected Australian Volkswagen vehicles," the spokesman said.
"The communications with customers inviting them to come to a dealership and have the update implemented voluntarily have been finalised in consultation with the ACCC."
How VW's 'defeat device' worked
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-22/volkswagen-accused-of-attempting-to-hoodwink-consumers/8292660
Friday, January 13, 2017
VW: DOJ claims VW destroyed records as diesel crisis unfolded
DOJ claims VW destroyed records as diesel crisis unfolded
U.S. OFFICIALS PAINT DAMNING TIMELINE OF DIESEL EMISSIONS-CHEATING EFFORTS BY VW EMPLOYEES
JANUARY 12, 2017
During a press conference Wednesday, officials from the Department of Justice issued indictments for six VW employees, including the former head of engine development at the automaker who was suspended in 2015 following VW's own investigation into the matter.
In announcing the charges against the six individuals, which included conspiracy and wire fraud, the DOJ also leveled the charge of obstruction of justice in alleging that VW employees had destroyed documents detailing the emissions-cheating software.
The DOJ painted a 10-year timeline leading up to the EPA's announcement that Volkswagen had used emissions-cheating software, an effort that was prompted by engineers' inability to meet emissions targets set by the company. The "clean diesel" campaign kicked off around 2006, when the automaker decided to make a push for diesel tech in the U.S. in an effort to replicate the wide use of diesel engines in Europe, where TDI engines had brought the company success.
"This new engine would be the cornerstone of a new project to sell diesel vehicles in the United States that would be marketed to buyers as 'clean diesel,' a project that was an important strategic goal for VW’s management," the DOJ detailed in a statement this week. "When the co-conspirators realized that they could not design a diesel engine that would both meet the stricter NOx emissions standards and attract sufficient customer demand in the U.S. market, they decided they would use a software function to cheat standard U.S. emissions tests."
The DOJ also painted a partial picture of how company engineers allegedly came up with a software solution designed to allow vehicles to pass emissions tests.
"VW engineers working under (Richard) Dorenkamp and (Jens) Hadler designed and implemented a software to recognize whether a vehicle was undergoing standard U.S. emissions testing on a dynamometer or it was being driven on the road under normal driving conditions," the DOJ said in a statement. "The software accomplished this by recognizing the standard published drive cycles. Based on these inputs, if the vehicle’s software detected that it was being tested, the vehicle performed in one mode, which satisfied U.S. NOx emissions standards. If the software detected that the vehicle was not being tested, it operated in a different mode, in which the vehicle’s emissions control systems were reduced substantially, causing the vehicle to emit NOx up to 40 times higher than U.S. standards."
The prosecutors also described how engine development chiefs Dorenkamp and Hadler made the decision to use the software, with Hadler giving the go-ahead for its introduction into 2009 model-year vehicles sold in the U.S.
Curiously, the software is believed to have increased strain on the engines, which led to hardware failures. The DOJ claims the engineers obtained the permission of former engine development chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser and quality management chief Bernd Gottweis to alter the operation of the software, allowing the cars to start in "street mode" and then switch to "dyno mode," which fully activated the proper emissions equipment. The DOJ asserts that prior to this change, hardware failures occurred due to cars running in dyno mode for too long and that the change was made through software updates at dealerships.
Following West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels' discovery of emissions discrepancies, VW employees cooperated with the EPA in tracking down the cause of the discrepancies, but according to the DOJ, they misled the EPA in the process.
"In implementing their strategy of disclosing as little as possible, Neusser, Gottweis, Schmidt, Peter and their co-conspirators provided EPA and CARB with testing results, data, presentations and statements in an attempt to make it appear that there were innocent mechanical and technological problems to blame, while secretly knowing that the primary reason for the discrepancy was their cheating software that was installed in every VW diesel vehicle sold in the United States," the DOJ states. "The co-conspirators continued this back and forth with the EPA and CARB for over 18 months, obstructing the regulators’ attempts to uncover the truth."
The answers VW gave to the EPA also reportedly included a script for engineers to use when questioned about the matter. The effort largely worked until one employee admitted to the EPA that cars were designed to behave differently when they detected they were being tested for emissions.
Following this admission, VW employees reportedly began to destroy documents and hard drives related to the emissions-cheating effort.
The timeline that the DOJ published in announcing the indictments shed light on some of the decision-making that took place at VW in relation to the emissions-cheating software, ultimately citing marketing goals and unrealized engineering targets as the motivation for the creation of the software. The DOJ timeline also expounded on the various levels of involvement of the six indicted VW executives and engineers.
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/vw-diesel-scandal/doj-claims-vw-destroyed-records-diesel-crisis-unfolded#ixzz4VfWrD6kF
The National Law Journal Daily Headlines:
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