VW diesel emissions scandal response timeline
Volkswagen’s diesel emissions test saga is one of the most complex, sustained and costly crises in recent years.
VW’s response is seen through a reputational and communications lens. External factors such as important legal, regulatory, industry and other inputs, outputs and outcomes are highlighted in italics.
2021
- July 8: VW AG, BMW AG settle diesel emissions collusion case for EUR 1bn fine
- June 9: VW charged with diesel-emissions deceit in France
- June 1: Martin Winterkorn to pay EUR 10m damages to VW Group
- Apr 26: German prosecutors charge 15 more VW AG managers
- Mar 28: VW AG seeks damages from Martin Winterkorn and Rupert Stadler
- Mar 18: VW AG becomes Germany’s most valuable company
- Mar 8: German court rules Audi not liable in VW emissions scandal — for now
- Jan 22: VW posts EUR 10bn profit for 2020; faces EU fine for missing 2020 emissions targets
- Jan 20: Former VW manager Oliver Schmidt wins early release from prison
- Jan 15: Prosecutors set aside securities case against former VW CEO
2020
- Dec 17: EU Court of Justice rules VW deliberately cheated EU emissions tests
- Sept 30: Trial of former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and three co-defendants starts in Munich
- Sept 24: Former VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn to be charged with market manipulation
- Aug 20: UK High Court throws out VW emissions scandal appeal
- May 25: VW loses dieselgate court case, to compensate 60,000+ German customers
- May 19: VW settles diesel case proceedings against CEO and chairman
- Apr 6: VW loses first round of UK class action lawsuit
- Feb 14: VW offers 400,000 German customers direct payouts
- Jan 14: German prosecutors charge six VW executives with fraud
2019
- Dec 20: VW hit with record fine in Australia
- Dec 9: Canada charges VW with knowingly importing cars that violated emissions standards
- Dec 3: German prosecutors again raid VW HQ
- Dec 2: Mass class action lawsuit opens in the UK
- Oct 1: Mass class action lawsuit against VW Group opens in Germany
- Sept 24: German prosecutors charge VW CEO, Chairman and former CEO with market manipulation, Daimler fined USD 960m
- Sept 9: VW launches ID.3, the company’s first fully electric car
- Aug 20: Seoul fines VW, bans eight Audi, Porsche, VW models
- July 31: Former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler charged with fraud
- June 23: Daimler issues its third profit warning of the year, blames diesel emissions exposure
- June 9: VW launches ‘Hello Light’ and ‘Drive Something Bigger than Yourself’ electric driving marketing campaign
- June 4: EUObserver reports Porsche persuaded the European Commission not to publish the results of a 2017 emissions test by the Commission’s in-house research agency
- Apr 15: German prosecutors charge former CEO Martin Winterkorn with fraud
- Apr 5: Preliminary European Commission investigation finds BMW, Daimler and VW guilty of breaching anti-trust laws
- Mar 13: EU Commission rebuffs German govt call for lowering of nitrogen dioxide limits
- Feb 13: Diesel cars confirmed to be regaining market share in Germany – 34% in January 2019
- Jan 3: Over 300,000 Germans confirmed to have joined consumer class action lawsuit against VW
2018
- Dec 6: VW Group announces phase-out of internal combustion engine
- Nov 19: VW Group announces EUR 44 billion investment in e-mobility, autonomous driving and digitalisation
- Nov 1: German consumer groups file emissions testing class action lawsuit
- Oct 15: Prosecutors raid Opel offices across Germany in diesel emissions probe
- Sept 18: EU Commission opens investigation into possible BMW, Daimler and VW collusion to restrict competition on the development and roll-out of clean emissions technology from 2006-2014
- Sept 12: VW Group CEO warns of higher than expected electric car costs
- Aug 27: VW independent compliance auditor complains of insufficient information in his first annual report
- Aug 20: Bild am Sonntag reports VW is to fire board member and former chief of development Heinz-Jakob Neusser and five other senior employees for allegedly revealing confidential information about VW’s emissions testing manipulation to German prosecutors
- Aug 18: Der Spiegel reports VW CEO Herbert Dreiss knew of emissions testing irregularities in July 2015, accuses company of violating investor disclosure obligations
- Aug 9: Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha admit to falsifying emissions test data
- July 9: Nissan admits to falsifying emissions and fuel economy data
- June 22: International arrest warrants issued for five former VW employees
- June 18: Audi CEO and VW Group board member Rupert Stadler arrested
- June 13: VW fined EUR 1 billion by German prosecutors for diesel emissions testing irregularities
- May 8: Audi announces emissions problems with another 60,000 diesel cars
- May 4: US prosecutors indict former VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn for authorising ‘cover-up’ and accuse a group of senior engineers of setting up a task force to conceal the defeat device
- May 1: Subaru admits falsifying emissions test data since 2002
- Apr 11: VW Group replaces CEO Matthias Muller with BMW electric car leader Dr Herbert Deiss
- Jan 27: VW, Daimler and BMW discovered to be using monkeys to test diesel fuel emissions
- Jan 17: VW Group confirms 2017 sales and record profits. Stock up 10% since the start of the emissions crisis
- Jan 7: VW Group estimates 2017 sales of a record 10.7 million cars and EUR 220 billion, retaining top place and beating Toyota
2017
- Dec 6: VW US environment head Oliver Schmidt sentenced to seven years in prison
- Aug 25: VW engineer James Laing sentenced to 40 months in prison
- July 7: DoJ charges former Audi engineering manager Giovanni Pamio with Clean Air Act violation and conspiracy to defraud the US
- Apr 21: VW agrees to appoint an independent compliance monitor and auditor for three years
- Mar 16: German prosecutors raid Audi and VW law firm Jones Day offices
- Feb 28: European Parliament committee finds EU and member states responsible for impeding proper emissions testing
- Jan 31: VW agrees to compensate 3L V6 diesel owners a total USD 1.2 billion
- Jan 12: EPA accuses Fiat Chrysler of illegal diesel emissions
- Jan 11: US DoJ/VW announce USD 4.3 billion deal to settle civil penalties and criminal charges
- Jan 9: FBI arrests former VW US regulatory compliance official Oliver Schmidt
- Jan 8: NYT reports VW is refusing to hand over emails and other communications to US investigators
- Jan 4: US DoJ files a multi-billion federal lawsuit against VW, Audi and Porsche for violating US Clean Air Act
2016
- Dec 20: US court announces preliminary USD 1.2 billion agreement to fix or buy back 83,000 V6 diesel cars
- Nov 18: VW announces plan to cut 30,000 jobs globally at VW brand to achieve EUR 3.9 billion cost savings
- Sept 9: VW engineer James Liang pleads guilty to conspiracy charge
- July 19: NY attorney general alleges VW defeat devices were ‘the result of a wilful and systematic scheme of cheating by dozens of employees at all levels of the company‘ in lawsuit
- June 28: VW, regulators and attorneys announce USD 14.7 billion settlement
- May 16: Norwegian sovereign wealth fund announces plan to sue VW
- Apr 26: German authorities investigate FIAT for irregular emissions
- Apr 22: VW Group announces it will set aside USD 18 billion to cover its diesel crisis, scraps publication of preliminary investigation findings
- Apr 20: Mitsubishi Motors admits to falsifying fuel consumption data from 1991
- Mar 26: US FTC sues VW for ‘deceptive advertising’
- Mar 9: VW Group US CEO Michael Horn resigns
- Mar 2: VW Group admits CEO received emails and was present at meetings about diesel emissions irregularities
- Jan 12: CARB rejects VW’s proposed fix for 2 litre engines
- Jan 11: VW extends goodwill package to Toureg owners
- Jan 4: US DoJ files lawsuit for Clean Air Act violations on every VW diesel model since 2009. In theory, fines could hit USD 90 billion
2015
- Dec 10: VW publishes initial internal investigation results, blames ‘individual misconduct’, ‘flawed internal processes’, and a ‘mindset’ ‘in some areas of the company’ that ‘tolerated rule breaking’
- Nov 19: US investigators confirm investigation into VW supplier Robert Bosch
- Nov 17: European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) announces VW’s market share declined in October
- Nov 12: VW CEO Herbert Deiss announces employee amnesty deal and deadline
- Nov 9: VW issues USD $1,000 ‘goodwill package’ to affected customers, runs goodwill marketing campaign
- Nov 3: VW admits understating carbon dioxide emissions in 800,000 cars
- Nov 2: US EPA announces tests reveal use of defeat devices in 3L Porsche and Audi cars
- Oct 28: VW Group announces Q3 USD 1.7 billion loss, sets aside USD 6.7 billion to deal with crisis
- Oct 15: German auto regulator orders VW to recall 2.4 million diesel cars
- Oct 7: VW announces recall of 8.5 million cars across Europe
- Oct 8: State prosecutors raid VW Group HQ, other corporate locations and private homes. VW Group USA CEO Michael Horn says defeat devices had been installed by a few rogue engineers and announces US remedy plan
- Oct 6: VW Group CEO warns employees of ‘massive cutbacks’
- Oct 5: WSJ reports VW internal investigation centres on two senior engineers
- Sept 30: Michigan pension fund files first investor lawsuit against VW
- Sept 29: VW promises to refit and replace emissions software on 11 million cars
- Sept 28: German prosecutors launch investigation into Martin Winterkorn. VW suspends Audi, Porsche and VW engineering heads
- Sept 25: VW issues statement saying it is working at ‘full speed’ on a ‘technical solution’ to win back trust. EPA announces it is stepping up spot-checks on other diesel manufacturers
- Sept 24: VW Group names Winterkorn replacement as Porsche CEO Matthias Muller. India orders investigation into VW diesel emissions
- Sept 23: VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns claiming ‘no wrongdoing on my behalf’. No successor is named
- Sept 22: VW confirms 11m+ cars worldwide have defeat device software in its first official ‘ad hoc’ statement since the crisis broke. Martin Winterkorn apologises on video. Regulators in multiple countries launch investigations
- Sept 21: VW Group US CEO Michael Horn admits company has been ‘dishonest’ and has ‘totally screwed up’
- Sept 20: Group CEO Martin Winterkorn apologises for VW’s ‘reported’ use of emissions testing technologies, says company will investigate and cooperate with government inquiries
- Sept 19: VW orders dealers to stop selling 4-cylinder diesel cars
- Sept 18: US EPA issues Clean Air Act notice of violation for 2L 2009-15 VW and Audi cars. VW is ordered to recall 500,000 cars in the US
- Sept 3: VW admits to installing illegal ‘defeat device’ software to CARB and the US EPA
- End Aug: VW engineers explain emissions irregularities to corporate lawyers, publicly admits to ‘software irregularities’
- July 27: VW employees discuss diesel emissions issue with Group CEO and CEO of VW brand
- July 21: VW discuss CARB threat to withhold approval of 2016 cars
- July 8: US emissions test results shared with VW and the EPA
- May: Third-party emissions test on TDI finds insufficient improvement. VW steps up questioning of engineers
- April: VW sends recall letters to diesel VW and Audi owners in California for new software to optimise tailpipe emissions
2014
- Dec 2: VW offers to recalibrate the engines of nearly 500,000 diesel cars in the US. The plan is approved by US and California regulators
- Nov 14: Winterkorn receives memo estimating diesel emissions issue costs at USD 20 million
- May 23: VW informs Group CEO Martin Winterkorn of ICCT study (he later claims he did not see the memo amidst his ‘extensive weekend mail’)
- May 15: International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) publishes California Air Resources Board (CARB) research study (pdf), which finds emissions from two VW diesel vehicles are up to 35 times higher than those permitted under US standards
2008
- VW’s diesel Jetta wins Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Motor Show
- VW launches new diesel engine EA 189 cars in the US
2004
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) significantly tightens diesel emissions standards
This timeline aims to give a balanced view of VW’s response to its diesel emissions crisis. It does not claim to be comprehensive.
Let me know if there is anything important that is missing, unfair or inaccurate.
You are welcome to use, copy and remix the contents of this timeline. When doing so, ensure you attribute ‘Charlie Pownall/CPC & Associates‘ and provide a clear, prominent link back to this resource in line with the following licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/