Mexican Media Brands
Report: Letter to Winterkorn in 2014 Flagged Diesel Cheating
Volkswagen AG’s then-CEO Martin Winterkorn was warned by letter two years ago that U.S. authorities were likely to look for cheater software in the company’s diesel-powered cars.
Share
Volkswagen AG’s then-CEO Martin Winterkorn was warned by letter two years ago that U.S. authorities were likely to look for cheater software in the company’s diesel-powered cars.
German newspaper Bild says a copy of the letter has been discovered by Jones Day, the American law firm hired last autumn by VW to probe the scandal. The report doesn't identify the writer It also isn’t clear whether Winterkorn, who has professed no knowledge of the cheating, actually read the message.
The letter said VW would be unable to explain why oxides of nitrogen emissions from its diesels were low during government tests but soared as soon as the tests ended. It predicted investigators would look for “test-recognition software” used to evade the regulatory requirement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last September it had discovered just such a mechanism.
VW admits installing the cheater software in 11 million diesels worldwide, including 8.5 million vehicles in Europe and some 580,000 cars and SUV/crossovers in the U.S. The company says the Jones Day investigation won’t be completed until April.
RELATED CONTENT
-
GM Develops a New Electrical Platform
GM engineers create a better electrical architecture that can handle the ever-increasing needs of vehicle systems
-
Choosing the Right Fasteners for Automotive
PennEngineering makes hundreds of different fasteners for the automotive industry with standard and custom products as well as automated assembly solutions. Discover how they’re used and how to select the right one. (Sponsored Content)
-
On Fuel Cells, Battery Enclosures, and Lucid Air
A skateboard for fuel cells, building a better battery enclosure, what ADAS does, a big engine for boats, the curious case of lean production, what drivers think, and why Lucid is remarkable
