The Dieselgate scandal over software and defeat devices designed to cheat emissions regulations on over eleven million diesel Volkswagen cars around the world is a never-ending saga, with a new report suggesting that the company held a presentation designed by executives outlining a plan to cheat on emissions tests all the way back in 2006.
The Dieselgate scandal has been blamed on everything from a “culture of fear” within the hierarchy of Volkswagen to petty cost-cutting. But a new report from The New York Times today suggests the plot to bypass emissions tests through cheat software and devices fitted to diesel VW Group vehicles was much more coordinated.
A new discovery of a PowerPoint presentation from 2006, which was reportedly put together by a “top technology executive” at VW, could prove that the Dieselgate plot was much more than a dirty little secret among a select few at the top of Volkswagen.
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From the NYT report:
The presentation has been discovered as part of the continuing investigations into Volkswagen, according to two people who have seen the document and have spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the legal action against the company. It provides the most direct link yet to the genesis of the deception at Volkswagen, which admitted late last year that 11 million vehicles worldwide were equipped with software to cheat on tests that measured pollution in emissions.
It is not known how widely the presentation was distributed at Volkswagen. But its existence, and the proposal it made to install the software, highlight a series of flawed decisions at the embattled carmaker surrounding the emission problem.
The revelation that the automaker’s conniving goes back over a decade will further hurt the company as it tries to wade itself out of trouble with the governments, and consumers, of the world.
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Volkswagen recently revealed a multi-tired plan of compensation for owners affected by Dieselgate, including full buy-backs, lease-cancellations, and “repairs,” along with to-be-determined “substantial compensation.”
But what I want to know is if any of you have seen the PowerPoint presentation. If you’ve seen it, or if you have it, please slip me a line at justin [at] jalopnik [dot] com
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