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On the second day of his interrogation, ex-VW boss Martin Winterkorn attacked companions and subordinates. Everyone has made mistakes except him. His performance increasingly becomes a farce.
This week, a man who could have stayed at home is being questioned before the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court: ex-VW boss Martin Winterkorn is testifying as a witness in the investor trial against Volkswagen AG – and remembers little. On this second day of his interrogation, the Congress Hall in the Braunschweig town hall was significantly empty.
Winterkorn was unable to make a public appearance in court for many years. Previous dates for his testimony had to be repeatedly postponed for health reasons. There was correspondingly great interest in the man who lost his position as VW CEO in 2015 in the wake of the diesel scandal.
It became clear on the first day of the trial: Winterkorn doesn’t seem to be seriously interested in clarifying the matter. He repeatedly answers judge Christian Jäde’s questions by saying that he doesn’t remember a letter, conversation or meeting. On the second day, Winterkorn reacted more caustically during his interrogation. He usually emphasizes the last word of his standard answer particularly forcefully. At times he seems almost indignant that people ask him whether he knew about his company’s decision to illegally manipulate emissions levels.
Plaintiff’s lawyer: “As smart as before”
According to Winterkorn’s statements, they are “as smart as before,” says plaintiff’s lawyer Axel Wegner on the sidelines of the trial, who represents the model plaintiff Deka Investment. At least Wegner was able to gain one insight: If the VW board apparently had no knowledge that practices that were harmful to the share price were being used, this would also be negligent. It could therefore benefit the plaintiffs’ case, even if Winterkorn allegedly didn’t know anything.
In any case, Wegner does not believe that the process will end quickly: “We do not expect a decision before 2026,” said Wegner. A verdict could then be made in the next instance in 2028. Only a comparison between investors and VW could speed things up. But the company is not willing to do that, says Wegner.
The shareholders who have traveled are less willing to provide information. “We’re not saying anything,” you hear again and again when asked about their assessment of Winterkorn’s performance. “Some of that was 18 years ago,” said one plaintiff to Capital, who wished to remain anonymous. He shows understanding for ex-VW boss Winterkorn’s lack of memory. In order to remain strong in the USA, a new strategy was necessary. But the fact that this strategy broke the law was irresponsible.
In contrast to the injured VW drivers, the investors seem to be less concerned with the illegal manipulations themselves, but rather with the fact that they were not informed about the fraud in time in order to be able to sell shares in time.
Winterkorn criticizes ex-employees
Judge Jäde proceeds his questioning chronologically. For example, it was about a document from the German Environmental Aid (DUH) from 2008. In it, the DUH describes how long VW’s fraud had been known. As early as 2007, the DUH published its own investigations into what it considered to be illegal measures used by car manufacturers, such as the software for recognizing the test cycle and the use of defeat devices. In 2008, the DUH sent an incendiary letter to the federal government and the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), of which Winterkorn was a board member at the time. In the letter, the DUH describes how VW illegally reduces emissions levels through manipulation software.
He knew nothing about any of this, says Winterkorn. Jäde’s document archive extends into the VW Group. He cites a note from Bernd Gottweis that the then head of Volkswagen’s product safety committee sent to Winterkorn in May 2014. In it, Gottweis informs his boss that “dramatic” increases in VW diesel emissions have been noticed in the USA.
“Can you remember this note, Mr. Winterkorn?” asks Judge Jäde. Winter grain can. And begins to counterattack: “Gottweis was an important man for me, but he was someone who always saw the glass as half empty. He took on things that he had no idea about.” If a technician had contacted Winterkorn, he would have been “alarmed.” So he didn’t heed Godwei’s warning. The former VW employee Gottweis had heavily incriminated Winterkorn with his statements in the past. It seems as if the interrogation in Braunschweig was just the right time for his former boss to return the favor.
Judge Jäde now comes to another VW legend: Ferdinand Piëch, who was chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG from 1993 to 2002 and then chairman of the supervisory board until 2015. Jäde refers to a statement by Piëch, who died in 2019. On the sidelines of a supervisory board meeting, he asked Winterkorn that VW had a big problem in the USA because they were manipulating emissions values using software. The US authorities have already sent information about this to VW. Winterkorn replied: Such a letter does not exist. Winterkorn presents the conversation differently: He asked Piëch whether there were problems in the USA. He denied this.
Source: Stern
