The group Volkswagen still suffers from the scandal of polluting gas emissions rigged by software during emission tests to ensure compliance with standards and new complaints from vehicle owners could still touch him in order to obtain compensation.
Worse, its CEO, Matthias Müller, who replaced Martin Winterkorn in September 2015, is the subject of several complaints in the United States which claim that he was potentially aware of the existence of fake software since at least 2006, when he was project manager at Audi.
Documents and letters claim that he knew it was almost impossible to comply with the US standards on nitrogen oxide emissions at that date but they do not contain enough elements to affirm that the current CEO was aware of the fake software solution that would be used from 2008 in the United States.
The investigation carried out across the Atlantic suggests that the principle of the operation of the fake software dates from 1999 and that no less than six software versions would have been introduced over the years to falsify the measures specifically when detecting emission controls.
Therefore, the investigation notes that the former leaders of the group were necessarily aware of the practice, while responsibility for cheating has so far been attributed to a small number of engineers who have probably played scapegoats .
The US investigation finally reveals the German group's unwillingness to cooperate with the authorities, but also the deliberate destruction of evidence against them. The German manufacturer will therefore have work to do for its defense.
In the meantime, the group has unveiled an ambitious strategy geared towards electric vehicles with the launch of many models in the coming years and a production capacity of 2 to 3 million clean vehicles annually from 2025.
