Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal is far from achieving a clear conclusion, and now the company is under fire because it did not have an independent inquiry into the matter.
DSW, a German investors association, requested an independent audit into Volkswagen’s emission scandal to determine the guilty parties and people involved.
According to Automotive News, DSW asked Volkswagen to include a shareholder vote for an independent investigation to be added to the company’s agenda for its annual general meeting. The latter is held on June 22 this year, and Volkswagen has yet to publish an official reply on the new request.
Juergen Kurz, the spokesperson of DSW, says that only an independent investigation into the German company’s deepest secrets will reveal full transparency on the Dieselgate matter. Otherwise, any resulting inquiry will be incomplete because of a suspicion regarding transparency.
Mr. Kurz also believes that small shareholders might still not receive access to all of the findings of the company that VW hired to investigate them.
The DSW Investor Group is aware that Volkswagen’s principal shareholders might not approve the proposal of an independent investigation. In an extreme scenario, the DSW might attempt to file a court order that would enforce such an investigation. However, the DSW did not announce any plans in this direction.
Since the beginning of the Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen hired the Jones Day law firm to check its corporate ways. The solicitors are aided by a crew of around 450 internal and external experts. The German corporation even created a “Special Committee on Diesel Engines,” which is headed by Wolfgang Porsche, to investigate the matter.
The internal probe requested and paid by Volkswagen has yet to be completed. While none of the current managers are involved in the scandal, investigators found that several unidentified individuals were guilty of misconduct, while the technical side had “process deficiencies.” In the case of the latter, Volkswagen is already considering a restructuring of its core divisions, to ensure that Dieselgate will never be repeated.
According to Automotive News, DSW asked Volkswagen to include a shareholder vote for an independent investigation to be added to the company’s agenda for its annual general meeting. The latter is held on June 22 this year, and Volkswagen has yet to publish an official reply on the new request.
Juergen Kurz, the spokesperson of DSW, says that only an independent investigation into the German company’s deepest secrets will reveal full transparency on the Dieselgate matter. Otherwise, any resulting inquiry will be incomplete because of a suspicion regarding transparency.
Mr. Kurz also believes that small shareholders might still not receive access to all of the findings of the company that VW hired to investigate them.
The DSW Investor Group is aware that Volkswagen’s principal shareholders might not approve the proposal of an independent investigation. In an extreme scenario, the DSW might attempt to file a court order that would enforce such an investigation. However, the DSW did not announce any plans in this direction.
Since the beginning of the Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen hired the Jones Day law firm to check its corporate ways. The solicitors are aided by a crew of around 450 internal and external experts. The German corporation even created a “Special Committee on Diesel Engines,” which is headed by Wolfgang Porsche, to investigate the matter.
The internal probe requested and paid by Volkswagen has yet to be completed. While none of the current managers are involved in the scandal, investigators found that several unidentified individuals were guilty of misconduct, while the technical side had “process deficiencies.” In the case of the latter, Volkswagen is already considering a restructuring of its core divisions, to ensure that Dieselgate will never be repeated.