VW's Board, CEO to Shun Detroit Auto Show

Volkswagen AG says neither CEO Matthias Mueller nor many other board members will appear at next week’s Detroit auto show. The company cites uncertainty about the timing of a settlement over criminal charges stemming from its diesel emission cheating scandal.

Last year Mueller was criticized for telling National Public Radio that VW “didn’t lie” when confronted with huge gaps between emissions measured in the lab and on the road. He made the comment before meeting with U.S. regulatory officials. VW later admitted equipping 11 million diesels with cheater software, including about 555,000 vehicles sold in the American market.

Reuters opines that keeping the board away from the Detroit show indicates VW wants to avoid the risk of new controversy that could delay a deal with the U.S. Dept. of Justice. VW is eager to avoid further delay by settling the complaint before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 and installs new leadership at the Justice Dept.

The VW brand is impatient to relaunch itself in the U.S. after 20 months of relentless bad publicity and slumping demand. Sales of VW vehicles in December rose 20% year on year. But the brand’s full-year volume fell 8% compared with a 5% drop in 2015.

In June VW reached a $15.3 billion settlement covering 475,000 of its 4-cylinder diesel models. The company also is close to agreement on restitution for 80,000 V-6 diesels models. But it isn’t clear when VW will settle criminal charges involving its cover-up of cheater software used for both groups of engines.