VW Investigators: 'If You Saw Something, And Didn't Say Something, You're Still in Trouble'
Investigators at Volkswagen are not only looking for the culprits who installed illegal emissions cheating software into their cars, but they’re also looking for managers who didn’t immediately report the devices as well, the New York Times reported.
Up to 10 managers and engineers could be suspended by the automaker for the scandal so far, including top-level executives.
According to the New York Times, investigators have been keen to learn who knew what within the automaker, and how quickly those findings were reported.
The investigation by U.S. firm Jones Day could take months, according to the report. A person who was briefed on the inquiry told the newspaper what investigators were looking for.
Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn told congressional investigators he was made aware of a potential problem in the spring of 2014, but wasn’t aware of illegal software until Sept. 2015.
More than 11 million cars worldwide were equipped with an illegal device designed to cheat emissions testers and fool regulatory authorities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board notified the automaker last month that its cars violated emissions standards by illegally polluting up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides than allowed.
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I'm not clear on whether this article refers to internal investigators (meaning people within Volkswagen or hired by Volkswagen) or external ones (people working for the U.S. government, for example). If it's the latter, it's strange. Typically, the monolithic nature of an automaker keeps individual people whose duties were to carry out the deeds (engineers) from being held responsible for scandals like this, especially when it comes to being complicit by way of knowing and not speaking up. The entire company is liable. But if the U.S. government wants to start that kind of precedent, the next time GM or Ford or somebody knowingly releases a car with parts that are defective and that have the propensity to end lives, the engineers responsible should be criminally tried in a court of law.
The goal should be to start at the top. The engineers who developed and implemented the solution were doing what they were told to do. Ultimately, we may never know how that was communicated, I.e overt threat of job retention, lack of promotion, bonus etc. The brass at most companies has tools at its disposal to get the results needed even if said results are nepharious in nature. This whole deal is shameful, not that I was lining up to purchase a VW, I've had 3 which is plenty, but certainly will not be heading to VAG showroom for quite some time. If ever.
"Misprision of a felony."
Within the EU only the Netherlands and Sweden voted to have stricter testing by 2017. France, Italy and Germany lobbied for leniency until 2019 or even 2021 to allow diesel cars emit 60% to even 100% more pollutants. I believe the European Commission is about to decide on this today.