Nine years after Volkswagen’s notorious emissions scandal erupted, former CEO Martin Winterkorn is finally set to face trial. The 77-year-old, once at the helm of the German auto giant, is charged with fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation related to the company’s use of “defeat devices” that rigged emissions tests in millions of vehicles worldwide.
Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” scandal broke in 2015 when the company admitted to installing software that made vehicles appear less polluting during lab tests than they were on the road. This revelation sent shockwaves through the global auto industry, marking one of the most significant industrial scandals in Germany’s post-war history.
Winterkorn, who stepped down as CEO shortly after the scandal surfaced, has been accused of deceiving buyers about the environmental performance of around nine million vehicles sold across Europe and the United States. These buyers, the court alleges, suffered financial losses amounting to hundreds of millions of euros.
The trial, which had been delayed due to Winterkorn’s health issues, is now set to proceed in Braunschweig, near Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg. The court has scheduled 89 hearings, stretching through September 2025, to address the multiple charges against him.
Winterkorn, who led Volkswagen from 2007 until his resignation in 2015, has also been accused of giving false testimony to a German parliamentary committee in 2017. He claimed to have learned about the defeat devices only in September 2015, a statement that prosecutors dispute, alleging he knew about the devices much earlier.
Adding to his legal woes, Winterkorn faces a charge of market manipulation, with prosecutors arguing that he failed to inform the capital market about the emissions-rigging software in a timely manner, violating German stock market regulations.
Although Winterkorn reached a settlement with Volkswagen in 2021, agreeing to pay the company 11 million euros in connection with the scandal, this trial marks a significant chapter in the ongoing fallout from “dieselgate.” The scandal has already cost Volkswagen approximately 30 billion euros in fines, legal fees, and compensation, primarily in the United States.
Volkswagen, while not a party to the current proceedings, has stated that it will be closely monitoring the trial. The highest-ranking executive convicted so far in connection with the scandal is former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who received a suspended sentence and a fine in 2023 after admitting to fraud by negligence.
