Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn finally went on trial on Tuesday, nine years after the "Dieselgate" scandal rocked the German auto giant and seriously damaged its reputation.

In September 2015, US scientists said that many of Volkswagen's diesel cars had software installed to cheat emissions tests. 

He "did not defraud" and "did not harm anyone," his lawyer told the court at the start of proceedings.

Trial delayed for years

Winterkorn had been due to appear before the Braunschweig Regional Court alongside four other ex-VW executives and engineers in 2021. However, due to a series of operations he was undergoing at the time, he was given a separate trial.

The former chief executive is charged with commercial fraud, market manipulation and making a false statement. He is first alleged to have misled customers about the quality of the car. Then, as the scandal was coming to light, he is accused of deliberately failing to inform investors about possible penalty payments.

He is further accused of having lied to a 2017 inquiry carried out by Germany's parliament, the Bundestag. 

The indictment agains him stretches to more than 600 pages.

Some 9 million vehicles were affected by the scandal, costing buyers hundreds of millions of euros and sending VW into the worst crisis in the company's history.

es/lo (AFP, dpa)