The accused are former heads of development Ulrich Hackenberg and Stefan Knirsch, along with two other senior engineers. Prosecutors accuse them of fraud for manipulating emissions in hundreds of thousands of cars from Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen. They are also charged with false certification and unlawful advertising. The defendants have denied all allegations.
Former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and two engineers were convicted in Munich in 2023 after confessing to fraud, receiving suspended sentences and financial penalties. Audi was responsible within the group for the development of diesel engines, playing a central role in the scandal. In 2015, under pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Volkswagen admitted to manipulating emissions data through software. This software ensured that engines met nitrogen oxide limits only during testing, not on the road. Millions of vehicles in the U.S. and Europe were affected. The damage to customers, Volkswagen, and shareholders ran into the billions. Legal disputes over the matter are still ongoing in several courts. Criminal proceedings against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn were provisionally suspended by the Braunschweig Regional Court due to his health condition.
(Report by Alexander Hübner and Jörn Poltz, edited by Ralf Banser. For questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).
