Volkswagen engineer indicted in US emissions case

AFP, NEW YORK: A Volkswagen engineer is expected to help the US pursue its criminal case against the German automaker after pleading guilty Friday to helping create the illegal emissions-cheating device installed on VW diesel cars. James Liang, 62, agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors developing a criminal case against Volkswagen, after he was indicted in Detroit federal court for his role developing the emissions “defeat devices” equipped on more than a half-million cars sold in the United States.
As an engineer in Germany, Liang helped develop the engines equipped the defeat devices from the earliest stages, said the indictment. He is the first official to be indicted in the US in the now-global scandal involving 11 million diesel cars sold worldwide.
“Almost from the beginning of VW’s process to design its new ‘clean diesel’ vehicles, Liang and his fellow co-conspirators designed these VW diesel vehicles not to meet US emissions standards, but to cheat the testing process by making it appear as if diesel vehicles met US emissions standards when, in fact, they did not,” the Justice Department said in a 24-page indictment.
Liang worked on the defeat devices from November 2006 while at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.
He and other VW employees developed a complex software system to keep emissions low when a car was undergoing testing to demonstrate environmental compliance, but to allow them to spew higher emissions on the road while boosting fuel efficiency, the indictment said.
He moved to California in 2008 as Volkswagen ramped up its marketing of its ostensibly “clean diesel” cars with high fuel efficiency in an effort to win greater market share in the US.
His job title in the US was “Leader of Diesel Competence,” although he still reported to VW officials in Germany.  
The indictment said Liang and others consistently misrepresented the system to federal and state environmental regulators and lied about the issue when regulators probed the discrepancy between the cars’ testing and real-world emissions performance.
“Liang and his co-conspirators attempted 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 the defeat device installed in every VW diesel vehicle sold in the United States.”

Volkswagen engineer indicted in US emissions case

AFP, NEW YORK: A Volkswagen engineer is expected to help the US pursue its criminal case against the German automaker after pleading guilty Friday to helping create the illegal emissions-cheating device installed on VW diesel cars. James Liang, 62, agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors developing a criminal case against Volkswagen, after he was indicted in Detroit federal court for his role developing the emissions defeat devices equipped on more than a half-million cars sold in the United States. As an engineer in Germany, Liang helped develop the engines equipped the defeat devices from the earliest stages, said the indictment. He is the first official to be indicted in the US in the now-global scandal involving 11 million diesel cars sold worldwide. Almost from the beginning of VWs process to design its new clean diesel vehicles, Liang and his fellow co-conspirators designed these VW diesel vehicles not to meet US emissions standards, but to cheat the testing process by making it appear as if diesel vehicles met US emissions standards when, in fact, they did not, the Justice Department said in a 24-page indictment. Liang worked on the defeat devices from November 2006 while at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. He and other VW employees developed a complex software system to keep emissions low when a car was undergoing testing to demonstrate environmental compliance, but to allow them to spew higher emissions on the road while boosting fuel efficiency, the indictment said. He moved to California in 2008 as Volkswagen ramped up its marketing of its ostensibly clean diesel cars with high fuel efficiency in an effort to win greater market share in the US. His job title in the US was Leader of Diesel Competence, although he still reported to VW officials in Germany. The indictment said Liang and others consistently misrepresented the system to federal and state environmental regulators and lied about the issue when regulators probed the discrepancy between the cars testing and real-world emissions performance. Liang and his co-conspirators attempted 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 the defeat device installed in every VW diesel vehicle sold in the United States.