The former boss of Audi charged in the scandal of diesel diesel that will not die

Nearly four years after the automaker confessed to cheating on diesel emissions tests, and after Volkswagen spent more than 30 billion euros in fines, regulations and other costs, its scandal over Diesel emissions continue to wreak havoc.

German prosecutors on Wednesday accused four former employees, including Audi general manager Rupert Stadler, for their role in the scandal.

Stadler, 56, once considered a rising star in the Volkswagen, is facing fraud charges for covering up the fact that VW has been manipulating its diesel engines for illegally pbading emissions tests. Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn was also indicted in April for his alleged role in concealment.

What some have dubbed "Dieselgate" could still expand as US and German prosecutors continue to look into the case and the US Securities and Exchange Commission continues to move slowly in its own right. lawsuit against the largest car manufacturer in the world.

The environment was discovered by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2015, which discovered that a "neutralization device" was being used to detect when one of Volkswagen's diesel engines was being tested. then to adjust the operation of the motor. In total, more than 11 million vehicles using VW's faulty diesel engines have been sold in the United States, Europe and the world, although the charges against Stadler cover only about 434,000.

Originally, the scandal concerned only one four-cylinder diesel engine, mainly used in Volkswagen-branded models. However, in November 2015, Audi confirmed that a 3.0-liter diesel engine used in its TDI models, as well as some VW and Porsche products, had also been set to illegally pbad emissions tests. In the real world, some of the vehicles have produced up to 40 times more pollutants than is legally allowed.

This triggered a wave of legal headaches for the German automaker, who rushed to find solutions with US and California regulators, as well as homeowners and investors. This included, among others:

• A buyback program for more than 400,000 diesel vehicles sold in the United States, although many have been repaired thereafter, has resulted in varying degrees of financial compensation for homeowners;

• The creation of Electrify America, a company based in Washington, DC, that helps promote the sale of electric vehicles – of all makes – while setting up a nationwide public charging network;

• Fines and additional regulations have up to now brought the total cost of the scandal to about 30 billion euros, or 33.4 billion dollars at current exchange rates.

And the financial cost could go higher. VW CEO Herbert Diess acknowledged in comments earlier this year that the scandal could last for "years". In May, the builder had set aside 5.5 billion euros in contingent liabilities.

It may be necessary to use this information to deal with the lawsuit brought by the SEC in March against VW and former CEO Winterkorn. The agency claims that the company has concealed the depth of the scandal – and possible sanctions – to investors and federal regulators. His complaint indicated that in the year prior to the discovery of the fraud, Volkswagen had issued $ 13 billion of bonds and securities in the United States. Their value was directly affected once the manufacturer's scam was revealed.

The SEC is under fire from critics. Among the critics who wondered why it took so long to bring a lawsuit, there was the US District Judge Charles Breyer, who in May declared that he was "totally mystified" by the reason for which trial had not been filed until this year. In a case filed in court this month, the agency said "his staff was working hard and as quickly as possible under very difficult conditions." He also said that he had filed a lawsuit after the negotiations with VW had not resulted in a voluntary settlement.

According to the indictment announced on Wednesday, the German prosecutor said that "the accused Stadler is accused of having known of the manipulations suffered since the end of September 2015 at the latest , but that it has not prevented the sale of Audi and VW vehicles affected by the sequel ".

Charges of fraud and other charges were also brought against Wolfgang Hatz, a former executive who had worked on powertrain development with the Audi and Porsche brands, as well as two engineers. Until now, more than a dozen Volkswagen employees have been indicted in the United States and Europe as part of this case.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig are the most important target, claiming that he was informed of the rigging of the emission tests by May 2014, but did not inform the US and European authorities, without stopping the use of the technology of defeat devices.

Oliver Schmidt, the automaker's compliance officer responsible for working with US regulators, is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence. Most of those charged by the US authorities, however, remain out of reach because of the limitations imposed by the German Extradition Act.

Despite its persistent problems, VW has put the crisis behind it in many ways. Its stock has fallen sharply in the months following the revelation of the emissions fraud. It has rebounded since then, without however reaching the heights of the months preceding the outbreak of the scandal. Sales also recovered strongly, especially in the United States where, for the first half of 2019, sales rose 6.8% year-on-year in a generally declining market. . VW's second-quarter net profit was 4.11 billion euros, compared with 3.31 billion euros a year earlier.

A big change is that the automaker has actually abandoned sales of diesel models in the United States, although Diess said the technology would remain viable in Europe. But he has ordered a major shift in product development that, in the future, will focus on zero-emission battery cars.