Dieselgate: VW's ex-chief Winterkorn to stand trial
September 9, 2020
The former Volkswagen chief and four others must stand trial over fraud charges for their alleged role in the scandal that has already cost the carmaker more than €30 billion in fines. Winterkorn denies any wrongdoing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
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Volkswagen's former chief executive Martin Winterkorn will stand trial over the car giant's "dieselgate" scam, a German court said Wednesday.
"The chamber has determined that there is sufficient suspicion, that is, an overwhelming possibility of conviction, of the accused Professor Doctor Winterkorn for commercial and organized fraud," the regional court in the city of Braunschweig said in a statement.
The announcement comes almost five years to the day since Europe's biggest carmaker became engulfed in scandal when US regulators uncovered the mass manipulation of its cars to cheat emissions tests.
Some 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide were fitted with so-called defeat devices that made them seem cleaner during environmental standards inspections than they were under real-world conditions.
Volkswagen, which employs around 800,000 people, has paid more than €30 billion ($35 billion) in fines, legal costs and compensation payments to car owners since the saga began, the vast majority of which were in the United States.
Winterkorn resigned just days after the revelations in September 2015 but denied any wrongdoing.
Unclear when trial will begin
The 73-year-old will stand trial with four other former Volkswagen colleagues, who are also accused of fraud, as well as serious tax evasion and breaching competition regulations.
Winterkorn will have to answer publicly to the charges. The start date of the trial is yet to be determined.
jsi/sms (AFP, dpa)
Dieselgate: A timeline
VW's emissions scandal plunged the automaker into its deepest crisis ever. It brought with it everlasting damage to VW's reputation and massive fees and penalties — not to mention compensation claims from car owners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
The disaster unfolds — September 2015
About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Spata
The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015
Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon
Raiding headquarters — October 2015
Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Hell breaks loose — January 2016
On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi
Quit or forced out? — March 2016
In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Settlement — October 2016
On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
Imitators — July 2017
When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kraufmann
Public still supportive — December 2017
Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Klose
Fuming over monkeys — January 2018
In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
Canadian court demands millions — January 2020
Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence."
