More than ten years after the diesel scandal was exposed Volkswagen A second criminal trial against the daughter’s former managers took place on Monday before the Munich Regional Court Audi started. The former development directors Ulrich Hackenberg (75) and Stefan Knirsch (59) as well as two other senior engineers are accused. The public prosecutor’s office accuses them of fraud through exhaust manipulation on hundreds of thousands of Audi cars, Porsche and Volkswagen. This would have made them guilty of false certification and criminal advertising. The defendants have rejected the allegations.
The former Audi boss Rupert Stadler (62) and two engineers were sentenced to suspended sentences and fines for fraud in Munich in 2023 after confessing. Audi was responsible for the development of diesel engines within the group and therefore played a central role in the scandal. In 2015, under pressure from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Volkswagen admitted that it had manipulated emissions levels using software. This ensured that the engines only met the nitrogen oxide limits on the test bench, but not on the road. Millions of vehicles were affected USA and Europe. The damage to customers, Volkswagen and shareholders ran into billions. This is still being argued in several courts. A criminal case against former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn (78) was temporarily discontinued by the Braunschweig regional court due to his state of health.
Zetsche is questioned as a former boss
Another trial relating to the diesel emissions scandal is currently underway in Stuttgart, in which the former Daimler-CEO Dieter Zetsche (72) is to speak as a witness for the first time. As the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court (OLG) announced on Tuesday, “a former CEO” will be heard on February 3rd. Zetsche led what is now the Mercedes-Benz Group at the time of the emissions fraud that was exposed at Volkswagen in 2015 and later led to fraud allegations against Daimler. Now he is to be asked whether the board once strategically decided to circumvent EU emissions standards and therefore install allegedly inadmissible defeat devices from 2012 to 2018.
In this case, Daimler shareholders at the time are asserting claims for damages because the car manufacturer informed too late about an illegal defeat device. Similar to VW diesel engines, the technology led to higher nitrogen oxide emissions than permitted, which resulted in an extensive recall and a wave of lawsuits from car buyers. Hundreds of investors also felt harmed because they had purchased Daimler shares at too high a price. The company always rejected the allegations and denied that the emissions control system was a shutdown device. “We continue to be of the opinion that we have properly complied with our disclosure obligations under capital market law,” said the DAX group.
The investor test case before the Higher Regional Court began five years ago. It serves to clarify factual and legal questions for a large number of individual lawsuits before the regional court. On this basis, the lower court can decide on claims for damages. The Higher Regional Court has already dealt with over 60 findings submitted by both litigants in several hearings. In February 2025, the Higher Regional Court allowed the question to be asked as to whether the company’s board of directors had specifically made a strategic decision to manipulate exhaust gases from diesel engines. In order to clarify the matter, in addition to ex-boss Zetsche, another former board member, who was probably the then head of development Thomas Weber (51), as well as some employees were invited to take evidence.
Mercedes-Benz pointed to previous investigations and investigations into the question of the responsibility of the group’s board of directors. “A comprehensive independent investigation commissioned by the supervisory board has shown that there are no claims against members of the board of directors,” the company said. The Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office did not find any breach of duty above department head level in proceedings. The US judiciary closed the investigation in 2024.