The Stuttgart district court has ordered testimonies from 28 witnesses relating to the Dieselgate emissions scandal, including nine current or former Volkswagen Group executives.
The witnesses, also including government officials and a Bosch executive, will give evidence in hearings running from September to November.
The subpoenaed VW Group executives are:
- Martin Winterkorn, former head of the VW Group
- Rupert Stadler, current Audi CEO
- Jörg Kerner, head of Porsche powertrain development
- Ulrich Hackenberg, former Audi technical director
- Wolfgang Hatz, former Porsche CEO and VW Group engine development boss
- Jens Hadler, former powertrain development boss
- Heinz-Jakob Neußer, former powertrain development boss
- Bernd Gottweis, former quality management chief
- Michael Ganninger, former head of legal affairs
Presiding judge Fabian Reuschle has also contacted head of German parliament Wolfgang Schäuble to inform him of the intention to order various German parliamentary members to give evidence.
Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner is understood to be among those summoned, reports Bild, along with transport minister Andreas Scheuer, former transport minister Peter Ramsauer and head of environmental aid Jürgen Resch. James Liang and Oliver Schmidt, both serving prison sentences in the US for their involvement in the Dieselgate scandal, will also give evidence.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess recently announced that days of factory closures are likely in the near future, as the company struggles to retest its product range before the new WLTP procedure takes effect. Dieselgate has culminated in fierce anti-diesel rhetoric in Europe, with European commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska branding diesel cars "finished" and "a technology of the past". Cities across Europe are preparing and implementing bans on older diesel cars, with the most recent being Hamburg, which began a ban at the end of May.
Autocar is awaiting response from VW and Porsche. Bosch and Audi spokesmen could not comment on the matter.
Read more:
Former Volkswagen boss Winterkorn charged over dieselgate role
Volkswagen UK boss: 'no systemic issue' with dieselgate fix
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From the ground up
Nearly 2 years ago I said there's some software developer on 40k pa who actually wrote the code. He must be being pulled in all directions right now
Full circle!
VW probably more worried by Austrian court's verdict
Ordered to refund purchase price plus interest on a 6-year old car