VW CEO Apparently Had No Knowledge of Diesel Crisis
Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer, Matthias Müller, had no prior knowledge of his company’s diesel cheating emission software, reports German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
Jones Day, the law firm investigating the diesel scandal, has concluded the replacement CEO found out about the scandal on September 18, 2015, one week before taking over at VW and the very same day that U.S. regulators revealed to the rest of the world that Volkswagen pulled a fast one on the Environmental Protection Agency.
Brought in immediately after the scandal to replace VW’s previous CEO, Martin Winterkorn, Müller’s previous role running Porsche likely made him the perfect high-ranking candidate to possess plausible deniability about a massive crisis revolving around diesel vehicles (of which Porsche does not sell in large volumes).
Despite evidence to the contrary, Müller has publicly referred to the scandal as a “technical problem” and even claimed the entire issue stemmed from a misunderstanding about U.S. law.
With the investigation ongoing, VW agreed to spend an estimated $16.5 billion to settle civil litigation, pay environmental reparations, compensate dealers, and resolve lawsuits in each state. Over 210,000 people have signed up to participate in Volkswagen’s settlement already, most of which have opted for the buy-back option over the emissions fix.
Volkswagen, with plenty on its plate already, declined to comment any further on Müller’s lack of knowledge as the legal investigation continues.
[Image: Volkswagen AG/ Wikimedia Commons]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
More by Matt Posky
Comments
Join the conversation
Ya, right. And Hillary deleted 33K e-mails by accident, Donald Trump never talked about sexually assaulting women, the tooth fairy is real, Krampus is coming this Christmas, and the Cleveland Browns are going to win the Super Bowl.
This might be plausible if it was certain American CEOs without much technical background. "Miami Mark" Fields might be a good example. But this is GERMANY boys...Herr Muller was a toolmaker apprentice at Audi and went on to study computer science...
The instructions to the diesel engineers were as follows: "As usual, should you or any member of your team be captured or killed, management will disavow any knowledge of your existence. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.”
Didn't some of the Nazi high command refer to the holocaust as a "little misunderstanding"? I guess old habits are hard to break.