New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the lawsuits expose “a culture of deeply rooted arrogance” and should serve as a warning to other companies that illegality will not be tolerated. As reported by the New York Times, these offices have uncovered evidence that “directly challenged Volkswagen’s defense over its emissions deception, calling the decision to thwart pollution tests an orchestrated fraud that lasted more than a decade, involved dozens of engineers and managers and reached deep into the company’s boardroom”.
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The device-tainted vehicle eventually migrated to the USA, the lawsuit claims, in 2006 when German engineers found that the company’s emissions reduction systems were clogging the vehicles’ soot filters, causing them to break after only 50,000 miles – the company was obligated to meet a 120,000 to 150,000 mile durability standard in the U.S during the mid-2000s.
The complaints also go into details on the use of six “defeat devices” going back to the mid-2ooos in Europe and allegations that consumers in this country did not receive the “clean” “green” diesel cars that Volkswagen companies touted.
May sales gains were even stronger, a sign that the automaker is starting to put the diesel scandal behind it. Its U.S. sales have been down 7% in the first half of the year, although the United States accounts for only about 5% of its global sales.
In a statement Volkswagen says it is “regrettable” that states are suing while it is in talks with authorities about a national resolution over the emissions scandal.
It followed a study by researchers at West Virginia University that alerted authorities in the US that these diesel cars emitted much more nitrogen oxides when driven on the road than they did when undergoing emissions testing on test equipment used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resource Board to test the amount of air pollutants emitted by automobiles. The suits stop short of accusing Mueller of having specific knowledge of the devices.
Volkswagen said that group operating profit before special items would be €7.5 billion ($8.5 billion), compared with €6.99 billion a year earlier, “despite the ongoing economic impact from the diesel issue”.
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.
Wasn’t it just yesterday (or 10 months ago) that we received this “confidential memo” from the Volkswagen diesel cheating crisis management team? Winterkorn is said to have also been aware of the potential issue of not doing so. The company has said more than 11 million vehicles with the emissions-cheating software were sold around the world.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in fines could result from the civil lawsuits filed on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time) if they are successful.
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Speaking at a press conference the NY and MA attorneys-general stressed the importance of the lawsuit to send a message to other carmakers not to defraud the U.S. public.
