Four former Volkswagen managers received prison sentences on Monday because of their role in a show for emissions that cheat at basically the transformed European car market. The verdict, delivered after the three-year trial in Braunschveig, Germany, marked the latest chapter in 10-year-old Saga, which reshaped the relationship between the continent with diesel technology.
Jens Hadler, who supervised the development of the diesel engine, received the most important sentence of four and a half years for orchestring that judges call “especially serious” fraud. His team has installed software that allows vehicles to recognize emission testing, temporarily increasing pollution control during inspections while remaining dirty.
The impact of the scandal has been extended far beyond corporate meetings. Before 2015., the diesel vehicles ordered over half of European car markets, sold as environmentally friendly alternatives to gasoline. Today, that figure collapsed to only 10% of the new car sales.
The whole affair also accelerated the transition of Europe towards electrification. Electric vehicles and additional hybrids now make up 25% of the new car sales, while Volkswagen himself became a leading EV manufacturer of EV, sells three times more cars in April in April, New York Times reported.
