this is a tale with a variety of truths for every episode, including a meeting in november, 2006. that said to be the genesis of the emissions fraud. it was the 1st of 3 key situations in which v w staff had the choice of voicing in favor or against the deception. the engineers made a presentation for the then heads of engine developments, showing how the e, a 189 could pass this straight to u. s. emissions tests. the software developers provided a detailed description of the cheat feature, assuming their bus would then ban its deployment. they claim one of them would later testify. i was clear about our plan. i was expecting the boss to throw us out. except he didn't b a bow on d his. we need this function to assist the launch for the 1st 6 months. and we'll

de install it as soon as possible, and vita will carry on working to improve emission on slide the fall. we'll get it done and it will be gone again inside 6 melissa. so off the engine chief says today that his staff failed to make it clear that it was a cheat device and that he gave no approval for the test detection. after the meeting, one of those present sent an e mail to to colleagues. what i understood was, if we are to use test detection, then in a way that we don't get caught the meeting is now considered the beginning of a gigantic fraud. at the time it was perhaps seen as just a bit of industry standard. fiddling with latasha does, it is towards or least, and that's not what i had in mind for 1st because it was standard practice to have functions like that. so 2nd,

because nitrogen oxide was not really an issue back then levant thought is a part dish that was basically a green light and the listing there was no real feeling of wrong doing like it was seen more like j walkers or even a lot of people do it even if it's not allowed of those want lots of trees and that was the sent him out to the symphony. when done and what a claim they'd never seen it as fraud or a can. we have a different opinion as our investigation and progress to long, which ones like at the said our findings with the results on the evidence that we've gathered. tell a very different story for her. the function originally envisaged is the 6 months jumpstart, became a permanent fixture. over 10 years, it was fitted in 11000000 cars, sold all over the world, january 2007, a few weeks after the engineers meeting with the engine development head, voice gang hats. martin ventercore was promoted to the position of ceo morgan.

under his management, v. w would enjoy a record breaking success. he had an engineering background himself and was known for his attention to detail. oh, he was repulsed. really, what is, does he did this? leave a large on field the here a little child, leroy, him, father. this is all. this is a really, really life. it is the since we're $500.00 north. didn't miss my mother in law kindle as was going through the v w. diesel engine had yet to hit the market. even with the cheat software on board. it was not ready for mass production with progress impeded by clogged particulate filters and test car breakdowns. the new head of engine development needed a lot more money for the e. a $189.00, which required the approval of vin to colon de signed his oscar. it was the desert certain a lot,

plus the biggest development cost hike ever and v w o. v e e e g. again, matt, at the end of 2007, the engine chief talked to vin to cohen, who had seemingly been previously unaware of the problems besetting the diesel engine project. does not go so fiasco, so hobbies, winter condos, as i told vin to corn big, the big a fiasco would have been seeing the cars break down on mass in the u. s. due to faulty particular filters, dissing over, but simply protecting the filters via software could mean big trouble with the authorities or heard of its being the subject gazette. i told him, i remember very clearly. and he said to me too, mia and no one 0, the engine chief insists he was talking about problems, but likewise knew nothing about any fraud. vinto cons, memories of the conversation appear limited to the cost increase with no

recollection of any details. not long after approving the multi 1000000 euro project funding, he presented his company's showcase diesel engine. you're charging all competitors every blend to so i $100000.00 forks logs a year in the us by the year who's automated the lead video. that i saw a strong side of our commitment to the clean diesel engine was finally launched in the u. s. since he, samson dates, earth one manipulated muddle was even crowned green car. if the year at the 2009 los angeles auto show. the engine was a resounding success. even if there was still serious problems. car off to car in the u. s. ended up needing repairs because of the cheat software.

on longer journeys, it just seems a car was on the test rig. the system switched to low emissions, but the filters became clogged. the engineers solution optimized the software zip. now it could even detect where the some mom was at the wheel. when now in the year 2012 this vague huffman, even the next mistake was the decision to add the steering angle factor ian does. and for me that's also the tragic bit stuff. so a bit like the ghost, it's called by curtis sorcerer's apprentice. oh, of course it was cathy which is why the entire hierarchy was again urged to make that decision happens a few that would leave, but ultimately the decision was taken thus months homes senior managers had again decided in favor of manipulating the diesel palate cars. again,

a major strategic decision, and again, nobody challenged it. meanwhile, the circle of those in the know continued to grow. oh, this is martin ventercore at the time. does he know what was going on in his company? there's no documented evidence to the affirmative. the ceo was busy celebrating one triumph after the next with v w increasing profit almost tenfold under his leadership. martin ventercore was by now germany standouts, chief executive. he rub shoulders with world leaders, his annual salary, 17000000 euros, and v w is set for further success. but in 2014 developments to can you turn you to the work of another group of engineers. researches here at the university of west virginia began using a different testing method. they measured emissions from cars while actually out on

the road instead of in the lab. and to their surprise, the v. w engines, nitrogen oxide levels were up to 35 times higher than permitted we saw a vastly different performance between the test. so and the on the on the highway then, you know, then we knew that there, the vehicles must be exhibiting some different behavior. while scientists and inspectors were baffled, nobody yet was thinking fraud. they informed v w. we fully anticipated the derby a voluntary recall. things have been fixed and we heard nothing more about the virginia study was commissioned by the international council, unclean transportation or i. c. c, t, the developers at v w h q involve spoke new. it contained all the pieces of the puzzle to expose their machinations. an engineer remembers the increasing anxiety.

we knew we were busted. we had 500000 vehicles in the u. s. and in the worst case scenario would have to buy them back. ah, the result was a growing tower of one lie after the next night with a high price, as is now clear from internal b, w reports punish or $10.00 beam d i. c, c t studia, i'm unable to say who was aware of the i c c t study in full detail back then. i was often thus di, what i can say is that the main reason for the us authorities punishing us so harshly, was thus not telling the truth after that. need to divide, caserta alone may 2014 martin ventercore. in his 1st told about the study, a close confidence spent got vice, wrote him

a note that landed in the brief case. ventercore would take home every weekend, num dusty and amazing else on the counter. that was the weekend mail, as reported in the media. it's an important point because it enables us to assert that from this moment on up to mr. ventercore knew that the vehicles in the u. s. at a defeat device device. i english don't cutten. so named because it's designed to defeat tests. vance got vice, remembered the gist of the note didn't text would. yvonne and i consulted oliver schmidt about the wording of the weekend mail defeat. it even included defeat device. everyone knew what we meant me would have, has it? i was assured that there was no logical explanation for the nitrogen oxide deviations the about. i knew we had to take action. listen, not because we cheated, but because it was dangerous. and our lack of an explanation by this kazama on

their kinetic liam had been 0 at ross and yvonne and paused as this was in the weekend mail. i was preparing for feedback about i didn't hear anything, not from ventercore either or didn't accomplished that reference was a red alert. well, not actually referring to test detection. god vice did warn ventercore that american inspectors could look for it. the exact wording. it's likely that the authorities will then search the v w systems for evidence of test detection being fitted in the engine control software. a defeat device. but did venture colon even read that reference in his weekend mail? did he understand what its contents might entail for the company? he would lay to effectively say that he hadn't read the alarming notes. all he

could remember was having been informed of the study this same account, ventercore would repeat later on the record at a parliamentary committee of inquiry in berlin. according to his version of events, nobody mentioned manipulation or cheating. what i wanted to know was whether it was a genuine problem. i was told, no, it's a technical issue. i cannot understand why i was not clearly informed earlier about the problems in the us. of course i asked myself to whether i missed or misinterpreted particular signals. only at the very end he says, did he realize that the issue was an illegal defeat device is on our twitter form or does owns outsourced out to me earlier? because i found his appearance before the committee of inquiry,

frankly appalling. his own on zillow, martin ventercore presented himself as someone who understood the engineering day and new v. w vehicles to a t portals yet, a ye this and there he is at the committee pretending had never heard of emissions control system as it was station looking on the vascular in tickle and says he was oblivious to anything untoward. for almost 10 years, he knew nothing about the defeat device and nothing about the growing risks for the w is that possible. embodied type, he was a stickler for detail. although he was a boss for many decades as easily, you're in charge of technical issues that cannot have detailed comprehension of everything due to the sheer scale. because you can't understand every single detail, no way. look, the sister in man, this is a man with a wide range of different interesting shop mood. and he had his people everywhere in the company, the funding go. i reckon also knew what was involved in what was into corners,

a very clever man in my eyes to see a show and one interested in details. tides intimacy yet i really would be surprised if he hadn't noticed any things in all those 10 years. like a click tut. ah, exactly what he did know back then remains unclear, but he evidently, and massively underestimated the scope of the problems. vince collins well derivatives above all around the customer and their satisfaction fuel economy safety and driving enjoyment. all evidently more important than emissions the scott to conceal guns, cloudy, think the company's approach was quite clearly customer satisfaction has top priority. wooden animals with customers being satisfied with their car was vital for vin to corn. and the spirit of into corn as it were, was at the core of company culture. up emissions are not customer relevant as long as the car isn't pumping out dirty. rancid fumes flux wagon was not alone in its

willingness to outsmart the inspector's. once the v w emission scandal hit, the headlines, other carmakers were also investigated, resulting in fines' claims for financial damages and recalls in germany as well as the u. s. among the new suspects, mercedes benz feet, w subsidiaries, audi and portia. but also chrysler, theat and auto parts. supplier bosh votes, while doesn't fulton gaps. the gazette gable g of prior to 2015, there was legislation that was evidently not enforced, that it had cross and obvious loopholes. these exit and this legislation was simply not enforced across the board vote. volkswagen came clean. the others didn't argue . so this one sided focused on folks bargain isn't fair either. for the la d spits at v w was the tip of the iceberg. that was the most brazen offenders. it's

all entirely, but you need to remember the v. w was far from the only company involved. the name bar, as it turned out, it was not as is often reported a v w scandal. and it was a scandal where the car industry, in general, used a legal method to circumvent environmental regulations. gang bonds in 2017 oliver kyesha was deputy chairman of the parliamentary inquiry into the emission scandal. he says that germany is ro, transferred agencies, checks when either strict no independence. the agency has rejected the claim as absurd. but krisha insists he's right. that outcast candidates. i said i'd lisha dusty. all the emissions scandal shows very clearly how the car industry is able to dictate stipulations of bottom busty fod saga by hand. that the point was not really monitoring vehicle emissions on the road and aligned the home. it does

so focused was solely on ensuring that the official tablets appeared to pass, and it was designated quite lately as industry oriented intestines into ski now poor besides unit for 2015. following the suspicious emissions readings in the i c. c, t study, the u. s. l 31 and relenting in their perceived. why are your diesel so dirty? how do you explain this? the v w engineers continued to equivocate, while keeping quiet about the defeat device ah plan was to stole for time. ah, when questioned, we were not to say a word about the technical background, an internal email in march 2015, set words to the effect of

b. w is on thin ice in the u. s. and further, if i say what i know fell, the red face is all round but as i fuck met was now obvious that the people also in the u. s. had no idea what to do any more and were at a complete loss to tried to shock was free. it was an awful atmosphere. gosh, when i, we realized that they were sweating. the fan were at their wits end midway. listen eventually v w faced an ultimatum from the u. s. so sorties, either you provide an explanation or we won't certify your new cause. with disaster looming v w held one crisis meeting after the next vin to con himself faced damning testimony from his confidant band got vice vendor caught up with jungle when vinegar called me. i told him that we'd been cheating dust that the cause had

a device that could differentiate between test bench and road. brassel decided then to coin would lay to challenge that accounts. while confirming the cool had taken place, he denied he'd been given such a warning. not long after that phone call, a 3rd and crucial decision was made on july 27th, 2015. the v w had courses involves book was the scene of a product failure analysis meeting at which martin ventercore finally sat down with the engine designers. for the 1st time, reportedly on the agenda. what were they to do about the u. s. diesel engines? what about the authorities? as for the rest of the meeting, one story with various narratives. oliver schmidt was among those present. it does milady fog of us. what i didn't. chavez,

tish pollen. what it was discussed at the meeting was to have, cuz often listen, does offline and listen. mm hm. do you believe my version? where the board said, we had to clarify this with authorities on what it was awful. do you believe us? prosecutors, denmark claim b, w management ordered a blanket, smokescreen to the authorities to the, to the, to vote. and the 3rd version of fun related by executives to the parliamentary committee, to tea at 4 that the board said nothing at all. socials was auto w. okay, scott, ah, evidently there was a presentation which apparently referred to as a half a 1000000 vehicles being affected on the american market. and the prospect have drastic penalties for v. w. top will inequality on will human info. somebody apparently did a calculation and just multiplied the maximum penalty by the number of cars written down on a slip of paper. and that was discussed at the meeting. yeah, yes. then to cones, the count of events is

a very different one. according to him, the meeting was not about any legal defeat device or potential fines, or indeed whether they were to tell the truth to the authorities. minutes from the meeting however, reveal talk of only a partial disclosure of information to the v w. inspect his did not subsequently claim that vin to con was lying. but they did accuse him of negligence and a failure to take action. a leash. oh, tom was no. they said he did not properly pursue illicit software functions in the to later t d. i. after july, the 25th 2015 and that he failed to ensure that the enquiries from the american authorities were answered completely. and truthfully, until to talk the man tasked was talking to the u. s. so sorry,

t swiss oliver schmidt, his job to get v w out of trouble. at the same time, there may have been the prospect of using the opportunity to give his career a boost. what they chose me because of my contacts with the us authorities. there was a list of instructions, a script telling me what to say and what to all men. and i was not to say the words defeat device on my, on doing one. in august 2015. schmidt flew to the us where he told some of the truth, but not all. regardless, the american investigators refused to relent. the show was over. a v w engineer was tired of lying and admitted to the scam. it was now a matter of not if but when the disaster would happen. but v w executives were still confident that things wouldn't turn out so bad. ventercore would lay to say that the engineers confession was likewise news to him. he made

a high profile appearance at germany's biggest car show. it would be his last decade on viva volkswagen leaving the spot with him. but come of the pistol isn't always lago forks, fog light in the driver's seat. 2 days later, the american environmental agency went public with the scandal. the global headlines now made clear the gravity of the situation em absent on september 18th, it was on the evening news and that was when i knew oh, this is patsy sellers always did shim as each to fox wagon a common. when i arrived at volkswagen, my impression was more that they had massively underestimated the consequences of what had been done in the tyler bussey form. it's like being seriously drunk and

doing 250 kilometers per hour on the highway and expecting to get a small, a fine launched off like for a parking ticket. i had the patch, cooper. volkswagen has been told to recall nearly half a 1000000 vehicles were in mission software. they did what? this is a difficult masser challenge for volkswagen. i suspect very crisis mode database bro. doesn't apply to hinder calling to shorten slows offset, liam. the 2nd this is jordan. i was often tish, was no good wish gone, spine diminish via leon gus off yet like that he host of who has the biggest blame the engineer, who did the programming to now like his superior? yes. as asked who knew but didn't stop him? yes. have bigger boss. yeah. who knew but didn't do anything either like that or the job guns feet as he of course, a lot of them pledged ignorance and said, no,

i never heard about any acoustic function, acoustic food still flies. he kind of, it must have been hundreds of people on the sweat. then maybe 10 seen was me. i was verified in being just leaving filo. are you ready to go to halter alisha albert, from 600000 mention, look at an article, documented the social that was shocking. fucker that you're thinking. what are you talking about? wilma, done, and as an engineer, you thank you to, to the entire development of an engine plus x number of suppliers, and what have you invested dawning if you add it all up. so and look at the total number of b w employees side, if of is this just handful of engineers. no, no. v w insisted that 100 people constituted a tiny group compared to a workforce of 600000. and that the company had taken appropriate action to resolve

the affair. yahoo, i'm a lawyer disco, sewell's, crew to wine. and i, if you look, we now have a different culture that uses of openness and addressing mistakes swung the diesel affair will always be part of volkswagens history and there's no way around that canal. so if you like many of my colleagues, i've always acknowledged that this was the biggest case of corporate fraud in post war, german history and arch lungs are not concrete. o . as 2021 dawned, v w was eager to put the scandal to bed. before the trials got underway and lounged like the company had already made its own verdicts, dismissing engineers without notice, while others continue to work for the call maker. v w said martin ventercore was guilty only of negligence and that after the crucial meeting should have been honest with the american authorities. but the call maker did then sue him for

damages while of into cons. executive insurance covered the majority. he was left to pay $11200000.00 euros out of his own pocket, a lot of money, but less than an average. he is pe oliver schmidt was among those who attended the emergency meeting. he was the man assigned to talking to the u. s. o sororities, but did not tell the whole truth costing him 3 years in jail. he emerged a free man, but one who had since been sacked by v w. bestbuy for almost 20 years of my life revolved around the company and the factory on it feels weird coming back here as well. ah aah! schmidt went to court to challenge his dismissal. but has yet to reach his settlement. there is no progress now. why not? no interest from the other party to d. w refuses to comment on individual cases. the pounds strike,

prosecutors have charged 20 plus v w employees, for the 70 or so is still under investigation. the diesel emissions scandal is the story with no witness. where some have lost almost everything and others little mm ah ah, into the conflict zone with to sebastian agrees 27 my group perish in the english channel. will this mouth force europe to commit for migration policy? uber hofstadter ruffled member of the european parliament on the former prime

minister in belgium, one huffman for the news, much more value. and what reforms in conflict in 30 minutes, dw, blue people in trucks injured when trying to see the city center. more and more refugees are being turned away as a border. families playing bomb attacks in syria. to these critical news, we learned demonstrators. people flee a russ getting 200 people with around the world. more than 300000000 people are seeking refuge

as to why? because no one should have to flee. make up your own mind. d. w. made for mines. ah, ah. ah! this is dw news lies from berlin, record numbers of coven, 19 cases in many countries. as elmer crime becomes the dominant barrier in europe, germany is health minister warned his countries numbers could be much higher than reported. also coming up another independent voice.