Volkswagen's Lack Of Action After Dieselgate Could Land It Back In Court

Apr. 26, 2018 2:20 PM ET by Mark Stevenson / 1 Comment

Damning report slams Volkswagen corporate culture.

A former United States attorney appointed to monitor the changes Volkswagen makes to its organization to comply with a plea deal it made with the government following Dieselgate has given the German automaker failing grades 12 months into his three-year post. A report prepared by Larry Thompson stated Volkswagen had so far done little to hold executives accountable for the fraud and made virtually no headway in changing a corporate culture that allowed the fraud to go unreported for years.

According to The New York Times, "The conclusions of Mr. Thompson's confidential report, first reported by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper and confirmed by a Volkswagen spokesman, are the latest sign that a ballyhooed campaign by Volkswagen to become an exemplary corporate citizen has been floundering." A failing grade at the end of Mr. Thompson's three-year monitoring term could have serious consequences for Volkswagen. If VW does not comply to certain terms as stipulated by the deal between it and the U.S. government, the automaker could land back in front of a judge and be compelled to answer for its lack of progress.

The report closely follows a raid on the headquarters of Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche, which "may have played in a conspiracy to conceal excess diesel emissions from regulators," wrote Jack Ewing, NYT reporter and author of 'Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal.' It also follows an executive shuffle that saw a life-long Volkswagen employee, Matthias Müller, replaced by Herbert Diess, as Volkswagen's newest CEO. Diess joined the automaker shortly before the Dieselgate scandal news broke in 2016.