In the billion-dollar investor trial against Volkswagen and its main shareholder Porsche SE because of manipulated emissions values, former VW boss Martin Winterkorn (76) has denied responsibility for the illegal shutdown devices. Winterkorn said on Wednesday before the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig that he was not involved in the decisions about the development or use of the shutdown device.
“I neither demanded nor supported this function or tolerated its use.” Winterkorn said that he only found out about the problems late and incompletely, said Winterkorn in a short statement that preceded his questioning. Initially, he assumed that VW would soon come up with a technically and legally flawless solution for diesel vehicles USA find. “If I had been given a complete picture, I would not have hesitated to tackle the events directly and clarify them.”
For five years, the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court has been negotiating a model lawsuit brought by the Sparkasse fund company Deka Investment due to price losses suffered as a result of the VW emissions scandal. The plaintiffs – mostly institutional investors – accuse Volkswagen and the defendant Porsche Holding of keeping the information about “Dieselgate” secret for a long time, thereby causing them to lose the value of their shares.
Volkswagen counters this by saying that the price relevance only became apparent through the publication of the EPA on September 18, 2015. Compensation for the emissions scandal, primarily fines, damages and legal fees, has so far cost Volkswagen more than 32 billion euros.