He was still new at Volkswagenwhen the diesel affair was exposed in 2015: the former VW CEO Herbert Diess (65) is scheduled to testify in court on Tuesday about the scandal at the Wolfsburg car manufacturer. Diess has been invited as a witness in the billion-dollar investor trial at the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig.
In the proceedings under the Capital Investor Model Procedure Act (KapMug), investors are fighting for compensation. After the scandal was exposed, they suffered billions of euros in share price losses. After several years of proceedings, the court wants to hear from more than 80 witnesses. According to Diess, the former CEOs Matthias Müller (70) and Martin Winterkorn (76) are also on the witness list.
Proceedings against VW managers were dropped after payment
After a few years as a top manager BMW Diess only moved to Volkswagen as head of the core brand shortly before “Dieselgate” became known. In 2018 he succeeded Matthias Müller as CEO. He left VW again in 2022. Since he was replaced as head of the largest German car manufacturer, appearances have been rare.
In 2019, Diess was charged with market manipulation along with supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch (72) and former CEO Winterkorn. They were accused of informing investors “deliberately too late”. In 2020, the proceedings against Diess and Pötsch were ended against payment of 4.5 million euros each by VW to the state of Lower Saxony. The regional court had agreed with those involved in the non-public interim proceedings to discontinue the case subject to conditions.
During the planned hearing on Tuesday, evidence will be collected about various allegations made by those involved. The model plaintiff is Deka Investment, the defendants are Volkswagen AG and the umbrella holding company Porsche SE. Diess did not want to comment on his role as a witness in court in advance when asked by the dpa.