Automaker received news of U.S. diesel study, may not have given priority to matter
Volkswagen has revealed that it — at the very least — tried to make former CEO Dr. Martin Winterkorn aware of possible emissions discrepancies in U.S. models as early as 2014. The revelation comes ahead of the release of an internal investigation into the diesel crisis.
According to VW, a memo sent to Winterkorn in May 2014 mentioned a study voicing doubts about real-world emissions levels of diesel VW vehicles in the U.S. However, the automaker says it is not sure whether Winterkorn actually read the memo or if he took any other action in immediate response to it.
“On 23 May 2014, a memo about the ICCT study was prepared for Martin Winterkorn, then-Chairman of the Management Board of Volkswagen AG,” VW said in a statement released this week. “This memo was included in his extensive weekend mail. Whether and to which extent Mr. Winterkorn took notice of this memo at that time is not documented.”
VW has not reproduced the contents of this memo, and has not stated just how detailed the memo was or what level of priority it was given internally.
Winterkorn resigned as CEO of Volkswagen in the days following the automaker’s admission that it had created emissions-cheating software for its 2.0-liter diesel models, later giving up other posts held within the VW Automotive Group.
The former CEO is known to have given a statement to German authorities investigating the matter, and has not been implicated in any wrongdoing related to the diesel crisis.
VW says former CEO got memo on diesel discrepancies in 2014
0 Komentar