
Volkswagen Scandal Reaches All the Way to the Top, Lawsuits Say - jonknee
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/business/international/volkswagen-ny-attorney-general-emissions-scandal.html
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jonknee
After the scandal originally broke last year VW tried to claim it was the
fault of a rogue engineer... Lawsuits by New York, Massachusetts and Maryland
argue differently:

> For the first time, the suits connected Volkswagen’s chief executive,
> Matthias Müller, to the scandal, saying he was aware of a 2006 decision to
> not outfit Audi vehicles with equipment needed to meet American clean-air
> standards.

This is notable because Müller was named CEO after the scandal broke.

> The New York complaint claims that more than two dozen Volkswagen engineers
> and managers were involved in the deception, including Wolfgang Hatz, the
> former head of engine and transmission development at Volkswagen and Audi;
> Ulrich Hackenberg, former head of development for Audi; and Heinz-Jakob
> Neusser, former head of development for the Volkswagen brand. While several
> executives have been identified by the media, German prosecutors, because of
> the country’s strict privacy laws, have named only one suspect, Mr.
> Winterkorn [CEO at time of scandal becoming public].

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mtgx
That would make sense if they wanted to make it look like "they are bringing a
new CEO" but at the same time they also wanted someone to cover it up. If more
employees knew he was involved as well, even more of a reason to fear speaking
up about it, because as CEO he could fire them.

