Witness statements bring VW and ex-chief Winterkorn in distress

In the investigation files of the prosecutor Braunschweig are statements of engineers and documents to a high-profile meeting of VW managers in 2007. They suggest that former CEO Martin Winterkorn and other executives were already privy to plans at this early stage, possibly laid the foundation for the exhaust gas manipulation.

VW has always claimed that exhaust emissions fraud is the work of a number of low-ranking engineers and senior management only learned of it on 18 September 2015, when US authorities made the case public.

Investigators encountered a meeting on November 8, 2007. With the participation of Winterkorn and other top executives, the meeting discussed how a new diesel engine could be converted to meet US nitrogen oxides standards. It was the engine that the US authorities should eventually use as a cause for billions in fines. Two VW engineers presented possible technical solutions at the meeting. ( Read the full story here )

So the engine should get a new, more powerful catalyst. However, supplementary documentation of the presentation apparently also revealed questionable software: it was able to differentiate on the basis of certain parameters whether the car was in normal operation or in the “test-relevant area” – ie whether the driving conditions suggested a test situation. Depending on the situation, the nitrogen oxide output varied noticeably: The vehicles were the cleanest under test conditions.

VW would like to comment on any statements of individual witnesses: “The overall classification of statements and events is a matter for the competent courts and authorities.”

There are various statements about the course of the meeting: some participants claim that the software was not discussed at all. They had agreed only on a better, more expensive technology. According to the prosecutors, the two engineers want to have a detailed look at the software function.

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