The German group Volkswagen AG has announced that it will demand compensation from the former general manager Martin Winterkorn and from the former head of Audi (part of the group), Rupert Stadler, following the emissions scandal (Dieselgate), Agerpres reports.
The lengthy investigation has shown that Winterkorn and Stadler have breached their duty of care, but no other breaches have been found in the case of other members of the management board, Europe’s largest carmaker said on Friday.
Both Winterkorn and Stadler have denied responsibility for the scandal.
Investors lost millions of euros in September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted to equipping 11 million vehicles sold worldwide with software that falsifies the results of anti-pollution tests of diesel engines. So far, the scandal has cost the German group more than 32 billion euros.
Winterkorn resigned as general manager on September 23, 2015, a week after the scandal broke out.
About three years later, Volkswagen terminated Stadler’s contract as head of Audi amid investigations into his possible involvement in Dieselgate.
Volkswagen said the investigation it had launched, with the help of law firm Gleiss Lutz, included examining and evaluating 1.6 million documents, more than 1,550 interviews and questions.
As a result, the company decided to seek compensation from Winterkorn and Stadler for breaching their duty of care.
Last year, Volkswagen sales fell 15.2% to about 9.3 million vehicles, while the number of pure electric cars delivered tripled to nearly 232,000 units, and the growth of plug-in hybrid models was 175%, at over 190,000 units.
The Volkswagen Group’s portfolio consists of 12 brands, including VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Lamborghini, Seat, Bentley and Bugatti cars, as well as MAN and Scania trucks.
Source: economedia.ro
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