The attorneys general also allege Volkswagen attempted to cover up the scandal.
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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 US, the attorneys general for New York, Maryland and MA said.
The attorneys general for New York, Maryland and MA announced lawsuits Tuesday alleging that the cheating stretches back as far as 1999 and that “top brass” was aware, undercutting Volkswagen’s explanation that the deceit was the work of a small group of employees. “The top brass knew” they were in violation of state and federal laws, he said.
The U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency have not yet reached a deal with Volkswagen on fines as part of separate settlement that could lead to an outside monitor overseeing VW’s compliance with U.S. laws.
“It is regrettable that some states have made a decision to sue for environmental claims now”, a representative from Volkswagen has said, as noted by the New York Times. Her comments were limited to the civil settlement.
“This cover-up was deep, wide and long-lasting”. “With today’s action, we want to make clear to all auto manufacturers that violating laws created to protect our environment and our public health is unacceptable and will be punished with significant penalties”.
On Tuesday, a civil lawsuit brought by the state of NY against the firm alleged that some of the highest officers still at Volkswagen were aware of the difficulty caused by the production of certain vehicles with regards to their high emissions, but chose to overlook them. The suit stops short of accusing Mueller of having specific knowledge of the device.
“This was a widespread conspiracy involving many, many people”, Schneiderman said at a press conference. A VW spokesman in Germany called the accusations about Mueller “unfounded”.
The company’s brands include luxury automakers Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, performance automakers Porsche and Lamborghini as well as mass market brands Volkswagen and Skoda. The company will plow another $2 billion investment into electric vehicle technology, which will be distributed within the next decade. To save money, the company opted instead to install defeat devices in the cars.
“Wherever diesel makes sense as a package to the auto, we’ll continue”, Hinrich Woebcken told Automotive News.
The DOJ said the illegal software allowed vehicles to emit up to 40 times more nitrogen oxide emissions than EPA allows.
Embattled German automaker Volkswagen said it will be able to post better-than-expected profits when it reports results next week, despite the costs and other problems associated with its diesel emissions scandal.
That harsh summary of what became known as Dieselgate, was given on Tuesday (19 July) by three United States law enforcement chiefs – the attorneys general in the states New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland – who announced they wanted “substantial penalties” from the German industrial giant.
The three AGs have also accused Volkswagen and Audi of repeatedly failing to disclose to regulators the true reason for the discrepancies: the defeat devices. VW used the devices even after USA environmental regulators began looking into the software to determine its objective, according to the complaint.
“They fought to prevent new models from being tested, and once tipped off, Volkswagen employees actually undertook to destroy incriminating documents”.
The latest legal claims allege that VW’s former chief executive Martin Winterkorn – who quit when VW’s deception was exposed previous year – was aware of the existence of defeat devices a decade ago.
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Schneiderman said the beleaguered company engaged in the fraud because it wanted to increase market share in the USA, and make the company seem more environmentally friendly than was otherwise true. The suit is being brought on environmental grounds, claiming the company knowingly polluted the environment.
