Former Volkswagen boss faces trial for ‘Dieselgate’ role

After several delays, the criminal trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn for his role in the “dieselgate” scandal has opened in Germany.

The trial began on Tuesday, nine years after the German auto giant admitted to cheating emissions tests, triggering global chaos in the industry. Winterkorn, accused of conspiracy to commit fraud, faces up to 10 years in jail.

Volkswagen said in 2015 that it had installed software to rig emissions levels readings worldwide. The case against the former CEO relates to about nine million vehicles sold in Europe and the United States, whose buyers faced financial losses running into hundreds of millions of euros, the regional court in Braunschweig city said.

Winterkorn resigned as head of the VW group – whose brands range from Porsche and Audi to Skoda and Seat – shortly after the crisis began.

The 77-year-old was supposed to stand trial in 2021 alongside four other VW executives, but proceedings against him were split off and postponed due to his poor health.

However, the court in Braunschweig announced earlier this year that proceedings against him would finally get under way this month.

Since then, there have been renewed concerns about his health, with reports saying he had to undergo an operation in mid-June, and there are now new questions about whether he will be able to endure the long-running trial.

About 89 hearings have been scheduled through September 2025.

False testimony, market manipulation

Winterkorn has also been accused of giving false testimony to a German parliamentary committee in 2017 when it was investigating the scandal. He said he knew of the existence of the defeat devices only in September 2015 but prosecutors claim it was earlier.

Winterkorn further faces a charge of market manipulation. He is alleged to have “deliberately failed to inform the capital market in good time” after finding out about the emissions-rigging software in violation of German stock market regulations.

Winterkorn already agreed to a settlement with Volkswagen in 2021, under which he would pay the company 11 million euros ($12m) in relation to the controversy.

In advance of the trial, Volkswagen noted it was not a party to the proceedings, although it said it would monitor them.

The highest-ranking former executive to have been convicted so far in the scandal is former Audi CEO, Rupert Stadler. In June last year, he received a suspended sentence and a fine as part of a deal in exchange for admitting to fraud by negligence.

The fraud has already cost VW about 30 billion euros ($33bn) in fines, legal costs and compensation to car owners, mainly in the US.