VW ignored warnings on �illegal� cheat software

AFP, BERLIN: Volkswagen ignored warnings from staff and a supplier years ago that the emission test rigging software that sparked the company’s worst ever corporate scandal was illegal, news reports said yesterday. German authorities meanwhile heaped pressure on the embattled corporate titan, demanding it set out a timeline by October 7 on how it will ensure its diesel cars meet national emission standards without using the cheat technology.
VW sparked global outrage when it admitted that 11 million of its diesel cars worldwide are fitted with so-called defeat devices that activate pollution controls during tests but covertly turn them off when the car is on the road.
The spiralling scandal has badly tarnished VW’s name, left it exposed to billions of dollars in fines in the United States and to investigations from Norway to India, while wiping about a third off its stock market value in a week.
Last Friday, after a marathon crisis session, the carmaker’s board tapped company insider Matthias Mueller—chief of its luxury sports car brand Porsche—to steer the world’s largest automaker out of the wreckage. Mueller, 62, who replaces Martin Winterkorn as CEO, pledged that “we will overcome this crisis” and vowed to restore confidence through “an unsparing investigation and maximum transparency”. But an internal probe has already unearthed more troubling news for VW, as it faces judicial penalties and class action lawsuits, according to German newspaper reports yesterday. Bild am Sonntag said that auto parts supplier Bosch had produced the device but warned the VW Group as early as 2007 that it was meant for test use only and that using it on the road to fake emission levels would be illegal.

VW ignored warnings on �illegal� cheat software

AFP, BERLIN: Volkswagen ignored warnings from staff and a supplier years ago that the emission test rigging software that sparked the companys worst ever corporate scandal was illegal, news reports said yesterday. German authorities meanwhile heaped pressure on the embattled corporate titan, demanding it set out a timeline by October 7 on how it will ensure its diesel cars meet national emission standards without using the cheat technology. VW sparked global outrage when it admitted that 11 million of its diesel cars worldwide are fitted with so-called defeat devices that activate pollution controls during tests but covertly turn them off when the car is on the road. The spiralling scandal has badly tarnished VWs name, left it exposed to billions of dollars in fines in the United States and to investigations from Norway to India, while wiping about a third off its stock market value in a week. Last Friday, after a marathon crisis session, the carmakers board tapped company insider Matthias Muellerchief of its luxury sports car brand Porscheto steer the worlds largest automaker out of the wreckage. Mueller, 62, who replaces Martin Winterkorn as CEO, pledged that we will overcome this crisis and vowed to restore confidence through an unsparing investigation and maximum transparency. But an internal probe has already unearthed more troubling news for VW, as it faces judicial penalties and class action lawsuits, according to German newspaper reports yesterday. Bild am Sonntag said that auto parts supplier Bosch had produced the device but warned the VW Group as early as 2007 that it was meant for test use only and that using it on the road to fake emission levels would be illegal.