Five German car manufacturers have, for years, colluded to set the competition. Also, the Foundation stone had been for the diesel scandal placed, reported the magazine “der Spiegel”.
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche (left), BMW Boss Harald Krüger (middle) and Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller
Since the 1990s, more than 200 employees of Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler are said to have voted in secret working circles. The Meeting is said to have been spoken over all the Details of the car development.
This also includes agreements for the technology for the Diesel-exhaust gas cleaning module according to the survey. Also the selection of suppliers and the prices of components for engines, brakes, clutches and Transmissions were the subject of the talks, according to “The mirror” on Friday.
Volkswagen the 4. July 2016, filed a pleading in the case of competition authorities, the magazine. Therein, VW itself is to Express the suspicion of the collusion of the German auto maker were “anti-competitive behaviour”.
In addition to the Wolfsburg-based group, Daimler is said to have submitted to a kind of self-denunciation to the authorities. Daimler said that the company exterior, in principle, to speculation.
Base for diesel scandal
A VW spokesman said on behalf of the group brands Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche: “not To comment on the speculation and facts of the presumptions of the “mirror”reporting.”
The EU Commission also wanted to leave a comment. BMW no opinion was to get the Federal cartel office would not comment.
As the messages magazine reports, provided the agreements are the Basis for the VW diesel scandal. Because the auto makers coordinated in the “5-circle”, as the groups had been called because of the five participating brands, also the size of the Tanks for the urea mixture AdBlue.
AdBlue is used to neutralize nitrogen oxides. For reasons of cost, manufacturers would have agreed on little Tanks. But these were not sufficient for the more stringent emission values, therefore, the company had cooked the books, the magazine.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorThe disaster takes its course …
About two weeks after VW has stood behind the Scenes, the U.S. environmental protection Agency (EPA) that a fraud-the Software is used in diesel cars, according to the EPA, this on 18. September officially. The crisis is gaining momentum, and calls for a quick first victim.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorThe chief needs to go
The Chairman of the Board of VW, Martin Winterkorn, have to already take a few days after his hat. 23. In September he resigned from this Post, however, retains his other roles within the group. Until today, he claims to have from the fraud are not known.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorThe New is actually an old Acquaintance
His successor, Matthias Müller, until then Chairman of the Board of the VW subsidiary Porsche is. Also, the New, from the fraud knew nothing. He is now to clean up the group and makes not always a good figure.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorRAID on the headquarters
Not only in the United States is determined against VW. Also, in lower Saxony, in this state, VW has its headquarters, the prosecutors actively: At the 8. October, the Brunswick prosecutors offices in Wolfsburg and other places to browse.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorA powerful enemy …
… occurs at the 4. January of this year on the Plan: The U.S. government filed a lawsuit against VW. The allegation is fraud, and violations of the U.S. climate protection legislation.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorAll of a sudden it will go fast
Although there is no approval by the Kraftfahrt Bundesamt (KBA), calls on VW cars in the model range of “Amarok” in the workshop: 27. January, the first SUVs to get a legally-compliant digital engine management and emission control. Owners of other models such as Passat or Golf, but they have to wait still.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorResignation or pawn?
On 9. In March, the chief of VW in the U.S., Michael Horn-back occurs. He stood in the first days and weeks of the scandal strongly in the focus of the Public and has asked for the behavior of VW public apology.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorA judge with a lot of patience
It’s not often that a district judge of the United States in Germany is as well known as Charles Breyer in San Francisco. The chief judge of the district of Northern California, negotiated the case against VW, and announced on 21. In April an agreement in principle between the carmaker and the US authorities. Many Details remain still open.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorDevastating Between Balance Sheet
28. June is known that VW has to pay up to 14.7 billion US dollars (13.3 billion euros) – a comparison. The affected cars should be retrofitted or converted, purchased. So expensive it could be in the United States, as in other countries, is still unclear. The market value of the company has decreased in the past year, at least by a fifth.
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Chronology of diesel gate-terrorBad Numbers
The half-year result of VW will on the 28. July presents: it bags the bottom line by 38 percent to 3.46 billion euros. A dispute with two suppliers in the Prevent group brings in mid-August, some of the VW factories to a standstill. 10. September admits for the first time, a VW engineer in the US, its involvement in the diesel scandal.
In September 2015, VW had admitted to have millions of diesel engines manipulated their exhaust gas cleaning only to the test satisfactorily worked. Also against Daimler, the Prosecutor’s office on suspicion of exhaust gas manipulation.
“A Kind Of By-Catch”
In antitrust law, agreements are forbidden which restrict competition. Because such agreements can keep prices artificially high, or the offered product quantities scarce – and, thus, harm consumers. Procedures have branches already resulted in millions of met in different industry.
Background of the antitrust allegations are prices according to “mirror” an investigation on suspicion of collusion of steel. The cartel office had farmers last summer, the offices of car and suppliers searches. The investigators took, among other things, VW, Daimler and BMW, as well as suppliers Bosch and ZF under the magnifying glass, as spokesman for the corporations at the time confirmed.
A spokesman for the cartel office said: “It’s six of the companies were searched, a total of 50 employees of the Federal cartel office were involved.” To the question of whether these actions are also notes on further possible violations were found, did not want to comment on the office. According to the “mirror” the information on possible illegal collusion as “a kind of by-catch”.
bea/who (dpa, rtr)