Volkswagen (VW) has admitted that its former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, was told about the company’s illegal emissions crisis more than a year before it confirmed it was cheating on US tests. VW said that Winterkorn was sent a memo in May 2014 detailing how some VW cars were producing up to 35 times more nitrogen oxide emissions than allowed. The company also acknowledged for the first time that it had installed software designed to cheat emissions tests and lied when asked by regulators whether this violated any laws. In November 2014, Winterkorn was again told about the problem.
Volkswagen (VW) has admitted that its former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, was told about the company’s illegal emissions crisis more than a year before it confirmed it was cheating on US tests. VW said that Winterkorn was sent a memo in May 2014 detailing how some VW cars were producing up to 35 times more nitrogen oxide emissions than allowed. However, the company said there was no evidence Winterkorn had read the memo. In November 2014, Winterkorn was again told about the problem.