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At Volkswagen Group, the next generation of flexible component sets will be the last engineered for internal combustion engines. According to Automotive News, Michael Jost, head of strategy for the Volkswagen brand, told an industry conference in Germany “our colleagues are working on the last platform for vehicles that aren’t CO2 neutral"...
Rupert Stadler, ex-chief executive of Audi, has been released from custody, according to a new report from Reuters. The news outlet quotes a Munich court, which confirmed the executive was released on Tuesday. He was arrested in June, after prosecutors raised concerns he was trying to tamper with the ongoing Dieselgate investigation...
British-based carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will this month stop the production lines at its plant in Solihull for two weeks, in response to weakening demand for their vehicles in China. Like most prestige carmakers operating in China, Jaguar Land Rover last month suffered a 46.2 per cent sales dive in its single largest market, and where it owns a major factory used to produce cars with Chery...
Audi has been fined €800 million ($1.3 billion) for regulatory breaches in relation the V6 and V8 turbo-diesel engines engulfed in the Dieselgate emissions scandal. The fine was handed down via an administrative order from the Munich public prosecutors office. In a statement, Audi says it "accepts the fine, and, by doing so, admits its responsibility"...
German manufacturer Opel has had its Russelsheim and Kaiserslautern operations searched by German prosecutors this week, as part of an investigation into potential emissions cheating with diesel vehicles...
More details are starting emerge about Audi and its use of fake and duplicate VINs (vehicle identification numbers) in South Korea. In a surprise to no-one, it's Dieselgate-related. In August 2017 it was revealed Audi used duplicate VINs on thousands of cars exported to China, South Korea, and Japan – quite why it had done so wasn't clear, though...
Rupert Stadler, the former Audi CEO who was arrested earlier this year for his alleged role in the Dieselgate emissions cheating affair, has been removed from the boards of both Audi and its parent the Volkswagen Group. In a statement released on the first day of the Paris motor show, the automaker announced Stadler had terminated his contract with "immediate effect" meaning he will "no longer work for the Volkswagen Group"...
Porsche has officially ended production of its diesel vehicles, instead shifting its focus to e-mobility. Using an official statement published on the company media website, Porsche CEO, Oliver Blume, said the company wasn't "demonising" what is an "important propulsion technology", but admitted it would have a "diesel-free" future...
Former Volkswagen CEO, Martin Winterkorn, and Bosch CEO, Volkmar Denner, are among witnesses refusing to testify in a trial against Porsche SE, the main shareholder of Volkswagen Group. The presiding judge of the regional court in Stuttgart, Fabian Richter Reuschle, said of the decision: “we have to accept that we cannot force them to incriminate themselves," according to reporting from Automotive News...
Recently-unsealed court filings are giving us a better insight into who at Volkswagen knew about what (and when they knew it) in the long-running Dieselgate emissions cheating saga. Recently unsealed documents, reported by Der Spiegel and filed by the Braunschweig prosecutor's office, say Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen Group CEO at the time, and Herbert Diess, current VW Group CEO and then-head of the Volkswagen brand, were present at a meeting about the cheating on July 27, 2015...
FEDERO, the Federal Roads Office in Switzerland, will stop some diesel Audi A6/A7, Mercedes-Benz Vito, Porsche Macan and Porsche Cayenne models fitted with 'defeat devices' from being registered. A release from the body said any vehicles imported after tomorrow won't be road register-able until they have the 'defeat device' removed, while vehicles already in the country will need to be tweaked to meet emissions standards...
The Munich appeals court has rejected a bid by Rupert Stadler, former CEO of Audi, to regain his freedom, over fears he may collude or otherwise try to obstruct justice. A statement released by the court, and seen by Reuters, says: "The Chamber emphasises that danger of obstructing justice remains. The release of the accused from custody was therefore rejected...
In one of the quirks of its Dieselgate settlement, Volkswagen has begun rolling out an advertising campaign promoting its competitors. In the just-released advertisement, a driver stops at a traffic light in his poorly-disguised Subaru Outback, with The Flintstones theme song...
Ex-Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi research and development chief, Wolfgang Hatz, has been released from pre-trial detention under a strict set of conditions designed to stop him fleeing Germany. According to reports in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the ex-engine boss was bailed for €3 million ($4.7 million) earlier this week...
Audi CEO, Rupert Stadler, has been detained by German police over matters relating to the (seemingly never-ending) Dieselgate saga. Munich police cited the potential for "evidence suppression" as the reason for his arrest, just a week after he was added to a list of around 20 Volkswagen Group executives being investigated for fraud in relation to the diesel emissions cheating scandal...
Germany has fined the Volkswagen Group €1 billion ($1.5 billion) for cheating its way past emissions bench tests, as part of the long-running Dieselgate The fine was imposed by the Braunschweig (a city in Lower Saxony, Germany) public prosecutor, which is investigating the Volkswagen Group over the (seemingly never-ending) Dieselgate saga...
Daimler AG, parent of Mercedes-Benz has been forced to recall around 774,000 vehicles across its C-Class, GLC and Vito model lines in Europe, after being accused by German authorities of fitting emissions defeat devices in certain diesel models...
UPDATE: Daimler's statement in response to the recall order affecting 1.6-litre diesel variants of the Vito van, has been added to this article. Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, could be facing an investigation from German authorities due to suspected use of emissions-cheating software in its diesel engines...
A new emissions-testing cheat device has been discovered on one version of the 3.0-litre V6 TDI fitted to the outgoing Audi A6 and Audi A7 models. Der Spiegel has learnt Germany's Motor Transport Authority (KBA) is investigating one of the diesel engines used in the now-usurped Audi A6 and A7 ranges for a suspected emissions-testing cheat device...
Martin Winterkorn, CEO of the Volkswagen Group at the time the Dieselgate scandal erupted into public view, has been indicted on four charges in the United States. The US indictment against Winterkorn was actually filed in secret in March, and was only revealed this week by the Detroit district court as the Volkswagen Group held its annual general meeting in Germany...
