VW Probe into Diesel Scandal Cites “Culture of Secrecy”

The fact that Volkswagen AG developed software to cheat diesel emission tests was widely known within the company’s engine development group, according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The German newspaper cites evidence turned up by the continuing internal investigation into the scandal.

The report says the department, faced with the company’s we-can-do-anything attitude, prompted it to develop software to evade U.S. emission standards rather than admit it could not achieve the goal cheaply.

Work on the fraudulent software began in Wolfsburg in November 2006, according to Sueddeutsche. It cites a whistleblower who was involved in the deception and has been cooperating with investigators. The report says he told a senior manager outside the engine development group about the scheme in 2011, but the executive took no action.

Staffers thought standard analytical techniques would be unable to detect their cheater software, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung adds. VW, which refuses to comment, is not expected to report publicly on the results of its probe until its shareholder meeting in April.

The investigation is being conducted by Jones Day, a U.S.-based global law firm, which was hired last September to determine how and why the software was developed. VW said earlier it believed the fraud was known only to a small number of employees.