And for the first time, the civil suits connect the current CEO, Matthias Muller, to the scandal, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Advertisement
These suits allege, for the first time, that then-CEO Matthias Müller was aware of decisions which led to the sale of cars in the U.S. which did not meet the country’s clean-air standards.
After the first known instance of the company rigging diesel engines with software to cheat emissions tests in 1999, VW spent much of the next decade perfecting its so-called defeat devices for use in Europe and then the USA, the attorneys general for New York, Maryland and MA said.
“Today’s suit and the nine-month investigation that led to it are created to hold Volkswagen accountable for their actions”, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said at a press conference Tuesday.
The states are suing Volkswagen and its affiliates Audi and Porsche over diesel emissions cheating, alleging that the German automakers defrauded customers by selling diesel vehicles equipped with software allowing them to cheat emissions testing.
In a statement, Volkswagen said it is already in talks with authorities regarding “a comprehensive national resolution of all remaining environmental issues arising from the diesel matter”.
The states’ claims “are essentially not new and we have been addressing them in our discussions with USA federal and state authorities”, Ginivan said.
He was joined by the attorney general for Massachusetts, Maura Healey.
But the new civil suit by NY and MA would levy additional fines on Volkswagen.
But faced with engineering challenges, VW later adapted the defeat devices to its own diesel cars sold in the US.
The lawsuit comes less than a month since VW settled with American consumers and the USA government for around €13.2 billion. The attorneys general for each state say they now know who lied, who destroyed evidence, and who in upper management knew about the cheating scandal but failed to act.
Some analysts said the stronger-than-expected results for the six months ended June were a sign a recovery might be taking hold, and Volkswagen (VW) shares jumped more than 5 percent after the news on Wednesday.
Evercore ISI’s Ellinghorst was particularly encouraged by the improvement at the VW brand, which has always been a weak spot for a group that makes cars ranging from upmarket Audis and Porsches to cheaper Seats and Skodas.
According to the NY suit, Mueller and Winterkorn were informed in 2006 that Audis with 3-liter diesel engines needed additional equipment to meet USA standards.
Although some countries have carried out investigations, Volkswagen has not yet been criminally charged for the use of cheating software, or defeat devices, which are banned under European Union law.
At a press conference today in New York City, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said, “the company sold over 25,000 cars to New Yorkers looking to buy a clean and green vehicle, and we know that those statements were nothing but lies”. Volkswagen said returns from its cost-saving program also contributed.
Advertisement
When those same vehicles were being driven under normal conditions, the controls were turned off and they spewed up to 40 times the legally allowable amount of nitrogen oxides, which have been linked to lung and respiratory illnesses. As of October, about 13,000 such vehicles were registered in Maryland, officials said.
