German carmakers like Volkswagen and Daimler have so far only admitted to things that can no longer be hidden from the public eye anyway. DW's Henrik Böhme says this will have to end badly.
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Image: picture-alliance / dpa
What a series of more black days for the German auto industry! On Monday, we saw Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche being summoned into the German Transport Ministry for a second time over suspected emissions manipulation. Two days later, prosecutors in Braunschweig slapped a historic €1 billion ($1.2 billion) fine on Volkswagen, the world's largest carmaker by its own definition.
Also this week, law enforcement officers raided the private home of Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who's facing a probe into suspected fraudulent behavior.
Not us! Haha!
The Dieselgate scandal, which started about three years ago when Volkswagen was forced to admit to having installed defeat devices in 11 million cars worldwide, has become a sizeable crisis for the whole industry. It's an industry that still claims to be a model sector (but it isn't anymore) and does not tire of emphasizing its enormous contribution to Germany as an industrial location.
Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche had always made a point of stressing that his company had not been involved in any emissions-cheating schemes, saying that the firm had never installed any switch-off devices. But they did install them as we now know.
We once heard the same "we-are-not-part-of-the-scam" assertions from luxury carmaker BMW. But now the company tells us that the wrong software was used in some models "by mistake." That's a cool excuse, I must say. If the whole matter were not so serious, it would have me in stitches.
German mills grind slowly
In the US, everything related to the Dieselgate pollution scandal happened very fast, including investigations, legal procedures, verdicts and the imposition of fines totaling €24 billion. In Germany, all of this is taking a lot more time. Prosecutors in Braunschweig, Munich and Stuttgart keep investigating diligently to find out the scope of fraudulent behavior and also whether Volkswagen manipulated markets by not telling them about the scandal early enough. In Braunschweig alone, they're homing in on 49 suspects, including former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, who's also wanted by US prosecutors.
DW business editor Henrik Böhme
German carmakers have said they're "cooperating fully" with investigators, but not a bit of it! The strategy has rather been to conceal what makes sense to conceal and admit only to things that can no longer be hidden from the public anyway. Policymakers seem to be waking up, finally. A so-called "diesel summit" between carmakers and government representatives last August had still turned out to be a mere talking shop where participants didn't want to hurt each other.
Summoning the Daimler chief into the Transport Ministry twice clearly was a much stronger signal as was the prosecutors' move to impose a €1 billion fine on Volkswagen. Which is not to say that the whole thing is now over — it's only starting.
Make a clean breast of it!
After leaving the Transport Ministry in Berlin on Monday, Daimler chief Zetsche said defiantly the company would take legal action to challenge the findings of regulators. Volkswagen for its part said it would challenge the fine that was slapped on it. For the record: Volkswagen is supposed to pay the fine to the German state of Lower Saxony (where VW is headquartered and which is VW's majority stakeholder).
Dieselgate is far from being over. On September 3, a first class-action lawsuit is scheduled to begin in Braunschweig. When the big shots appear in the dock, old wounds are bound to open again, and it'll become obvious again to what extent they were involved in fraud. Assuming responsibility for what happened is not what they deem fit. While blaming others, the bosses keep claiming they were not in the picture.
But who's going to believe you? Get a move on and make a clean breast of it! Or else electric car pioneer Elon Musk, who you tend to sneer at, may emerge the big winner in the end.
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."
