LONDON: Former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn received emails about the company’s emissions crisis one year before it became public, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
In the statement published on its website, Volkswagen also said it would defend itself against legal action by shareholders over the scandal, in which it emerged that the carmaker was cheating on emissions tests.
Winterkorn resigned after revelations that millions of Volkswagen vehicles had been fitted with a “defeat” device to cheat emissions tests.
He received a memo in May 2014 and was present at meetings where the issue was discussed before it became public, but it “did not initially receive particular attention” from Volkswagen management, according the document.
