Frankfurt, Germany - Volkswagen's former chief executive officer was alerted to problems with US diesel emissions tests in 2014, but the issue “did not initially receive particular attention at the management levels.”
In a summary of its response to a shareholder lawsuit in Germany on Wednesday Volkswagen said a memo was sent to former CEO Martin Winterkorn in May 2014 about a study by US researchers that raised questions about whether Volkswagen diesel cars were emitting more smog-creating pollutants in real-world driving than in standard government tests.
That memo was included in Winterkorn's “extensive weekend mail,” VW said. It did not specify who sent the memo, and did not say whether Winterkorn actually read it.
“Whether and to which extent Mr. Winterkorn took notice of this memo at that time is not documented,” VW said.
In November 2014, Winterkorn received another memo that referred to a cost framework for the diesel issue in North America, then estimated at €20 million (R310 million).
Winterkorn also attended a July 2015 meeting at which diesel emissions issues were discussed, but it is not clear whether he knew of the cheating at the time.
Volkswagen admitted publicly in September 2015 that the anomalies in US emissions tests were caused by software designed to cheat the tests. That acknowledgement erased billions of euros from VW's market value, forced Winterkorn's resignation, and sparked investigations and lawsuits across the world.
“Volkswagen expressly regrets that, looking back, the situation is different,” the company statement said.
DEADLINE
The company is in intensive settlement talks with the US Justice Department and US clean air regulators, and faces a 24 March deadline to tell a US judge whether it has an acceptable fix for almost 600 000 diesel cars.
Volkswagen is fending off lawsuits claiming it was too slow to inform investors about its rigging of emissions tests, and mounting its defenses ahead of a report due in April by US law firm Jones Day, appointed by the carmaker to investigate those responsible for the biggest corporate scandal in its history.
Investors have lodged dozens of lawsuits at the German regional court in Brunswick, claiming VW failed to disclose its test rigging until about three weeks after it had admitted its wrongdoing to US authorities.
A week ago, the Volkswagen supervisory board's top committee hired a German law firm to advise it on the liabilities the company could face as a result of the Dieselgate scandal.