VW Delays Plan to Reveal Results of Diesel Cheating Probe

Volkswagen AG has cancelled plans to release preliminary findings this week of an independent investigation into the company’s diesel emission test cheating scandal.

The continuing probe is being conducted by the U.S.-based Jones Day international law firm. Announcing findings to date would be an “unacceptable risk” to VW by endangering efforts to pinpoint the guilty and reach settlements with regulators and customers, board director Wolfgang Porsche tells reporters.

The investigation aims to determine who was responsible for rigging 11 million diesel-powered vehicles with software designed to manipulate emission tests. The decision to cheat came as developers struggled to make the company’s “EA 189” diesels conform with U.S. emission limits, which are considerably lower than those in Europe.

Last week the U.S. Dept. of Justice asked VW not to report the preliminary findings, citing potential damage to its own criminal investigation. Porsche says VW’s lawyers agree. He notes that revealing findings before the Jones Day probe is completed could enable people not yet questioned to “align their statements with the contents of the report.”

Even senior VW managers have elected to avoid hearing details for fear of being accused of tainting the investigation, according to Automotive News. A final report on the probe is not expected until the fourth quarter.

VW has vowed to prosecute any employee found guilty, regardless of their rank in the management chain. One source tells AN the executive board is bound by its own bylaws to seek damages if the investigation determines a board member knew of the cheating.