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Plot twist: former VW Chairman turns on the supervisory board
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In the latest turn of events, VW has indicated that it may bring legal action against a former chairman, Ferdinand Piech. This was after Mr Piech allegedly informed the supervisory board about the potential cheating of diesel emission test in March 2015.
The report that was published stated that Mr Piech had highlighted the issue with the former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, and several other members of the supervisory board.
This suspiciously led to Mr Piech’s exit as Chairman.
The German automaker released a statement saying:
“…the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG emphatically repudiates the assertions made by Ferdinand Piech as reported recently in the media.”
However, it seems as though the supervisory board may have something to hide because, following the clash between Piech and Winterkorn, Piech had been forced to step down in April 2015. Was this because of Piech’s revelations allegedly made in March 2015? Is it highly suspicious that, after serving two decades with VW, Mr Piech just gave up or was forced out of his role as Chairman.
We can but speculate…
It didn’t take long for Winterkorn to resign soon after the scandal was exposed in September 2015. This was when VW admitted what had been going on.
Winterkorn himself has been central to public inquiries because of the extent of his alleged involvement in the scandal. To put the knife in deeper, Mr Piech appears to have testified against Winterkorn as well.
Whether Mr Piech notified the supervisory board of the use of the illegal software is still under debate. Labour representatives Bernd Osterloh and Berthold Huber denied the reported allegations from Mr Piech. The duo continue to state that, had Mr Piech warned the automaker of the illegal software, then “we may have been able to spare the company and its workforce from substantial harm”.
To be fair though, if you hadn’t have cheated in the first place, then you would have saved all this anyway!
The automaker appears to be considerably upset about Mr Piech’s claims; so much so that:
“…the board of management will carefully weigh the possibility of measures and claims against Mr Piech.”
The VW Group will no doubt be frustrated by Mr Piech’s comments as the German automaker has had to endure a whirlwind of negative press because of their actions.
The VW Group continues to face pressure from consumers, VW shareholders, and criminal prosecutors for the use of the so-called “defeat device”.
More fuel has been added to the fire though. Avi Primor, a former Israeli ambassador to Germany, has been named as the alleged mole and source of Mr Piech’s revelation. However, Mr Primor confirmed to Reuters that he never spoke to the former Chairman on such issues.
Until we get clarification on what “actually was said” we won’t know for certain whether the VW supervisory board knew of the “defeat device” prior to it being published in September 2015. Nonetheless, it’s helpful that those allegations are there; it’ll assist in multiple lawsuits brought against the VW Group for their scandalous actions.
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