Some reports suggest that U.S. regulating bodies asked Volkswagen to scale up their production of electric vehicles.
Advertisement
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 lawsuits reflect more than 50,000 diesel vehicles: more than 25,000 in NY, 15,000 in MA and 12,935 in Maryland.
All three suits allege violations of the states’ environmental laws, Reuters reports.
When VW agreed to the $14.7 billion partial settlement with regulators and owners last month, some advocates said the increased scrutiny was already spurring changes.
Volkswagen has been embroiled in a scandal since last September’s disclosure from USA authorities that the company had been “cheating” on emissions tests for its diesel vehicles.
The suits are the latest developments in the so-called Dieselgate scandal that has harmed VW’s global business, sullied its reputation and led to the departure of its CEO and other executives.
“The allegations against Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche reveal a culture of deeply rooted corporate arrogance, combined with a conscious disregard for the rule of law or the protection of public health and the environment”, ny attorney general Eric Schneiderman said in his lawsuit, according to United States media. The suits publicly identify many of these employees and accuse them of “unlawful conduct”.
That deal included a “partial settlement” with NY and 43 other states worth $603m.
“Despite being fully aware of the prohibitions in this country against defeat devices, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche proceeded to roll out hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles with 2.0 and 3.0 liter engines onto the American market from the 2009 through 2016 model years, all of which featured undisclosed and illegal defeat devices”, the lawsuit says.
“This clean diesel was no more than a dirty cover-up”, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said at the press conference Tuesday announcing the filing. Additional states could file similar actions, Schneiderman’s office said. U.S. regulations required the soot filter to last longer than that.
The company said the allegations were “not new” and that the carmaker had been cooperating with USA authorises.
“The allegations in complaints filed by certain states today are essentially not new and we have been addressing them in our discussions with USA federal and state authorities”, the company said.
In one 2014 e-mail obtained by NY investigators, Winterkorn was told by Frank Tuch, director of VW Group quality management, “A thorough explanation for [high] emissions can not be given to authorities”. To save money, the company opted instead to install defeat devices in the cars.
A VW spokeswoman criticized the states’ decision to bring the suits. Schneiderman told reporters Muller “was made aware of some aspects of this problem” and that “he clearly was in the loop”. A VW spokesman in Germany called the accusations about Mueller “unfounded”. Prosecutors say they have combed through 1.1 million documents totaling 7.5 million pages during their nine-month-long investigation.
Last month, Volkswagen agreed to a $15.3-billion settlement with consumers, regulators and US states, in which about $10 billion would go toward compensating consumers.
Advertisement
“The numbers show a historic record result in the second quarter, and that’s just spectacular considering the headwinds VW faces with declining revenues and all the woes triggered by the diesel scandal”, said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Metzler Bank.
