Volkswagen to sweep out cheats

German car maker itself finally takes action with mass firings of those its thinks are responsible for defeat devices

He saw most of the Dieselgate crisis from the sidelines, but new Volkswagen Group supremo Herbert Diess is finally on the field – and he’s cleaning house.

Sources at Volkswagen suggest the company, slammed in September 2015 for using trick software codes to cheat on its diesel emissions, is set to put a broom through its internal suspects.

The Braunschweig public prosecutor investigating Dieselgate has identified 39 culprits linked to the scandal, but Volkswagen itself has fired six managers and possibly more.

While there is no official word out of the German carmaker about the firings, German newspapers Handelsblatt and Bild am Sonntag insist the most senior manager fired is former Director of Powertrain, Heinz-Jakob Neusser, along with former head of diesel development Falko Rudolph, diesel developer Rudolph Krebs and three other engineers.

More firings are expected from Volkswagen, which has largely used suspensions while its internal investigations have continued.

Another ex-diesel development boss, Jörn Kahrstedt, is said to have been fired, along with an emissions specialist known only as Thorsten D.

Thorsten D. could be a key in the German criminal investigation into Dieselgate, having declared to the Braunschweig public prosecutor that he informed current Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess of the cheat on July 27, 2015 – about six weeks before the crisis became public.

However, it’s unclear what Dr Diess, who had just arrived from BMW, could have done about it, especially if he was surrounded and lead by managers who might have been involved in the scandal.

Neusser had been suspended since 2015, and was charged by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2017 along with five other managers.

The DOJ has also charged Dr Winterkorn of conspiracy.