One of the dieselgate trials opens today in Brunswick, Germany.
Four executives tried for fraud
Four senior Volkswagen officials are appearing in the rigged diesel engine case that erupted in September 2015.
This global scandal had deeply tarnished the image of the flagship of the German automobile, Volkswagen, which had admitted to having rigged 11 million cars so that they displayed levels of nitrogen oxide emissions lower than reality.
The group has since disbursed nearly 30 billion euros in reimbursements, damages and legal costs, much of it in the United States.
The “trial of the year” in Germany
Jonas Kallgren is the euronews correspondent in Germany: “It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the trial of the year here in Germany. The dieselgate rocked the country, it shook Volkswagen in its foundations and also changed people’s confidence in the ‘made’ brand. in Germany “, in its companies, large groups in general.”
“The four people on trial today – Volkswagen executives and engineers – are charged with fraud and tax evasion. However, one person will not be here today: former Volkswagen chairman Martin Winterkorn, whose His appearance was delayed for health reasons. The fact remains that four people are on trial today, which will allow many Germans to feel that those behind this scandal will be held responsible. “
Volkswagen _wants to turn the page
“On the Volkswagen side, we probably hope that all this ends relatively quickly and without pain. The group intends to move forward. It has tried in recent years to change its image by associating it, no longer with Dieselgate , but to future technologies like electrification etc. This trial will obviously be a reminder of that dark past which happened more than five years ago. “
This is the second major criminal trial in Germany related to “dieselgate”. The one still in progress targeting Rupert Stadler, former boss of Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, began a year ago.
Reference-feedproxy.google.com