Merkel Urges Volkswagen to Make Full Disclosure in Emissions Scandal
German chancellor wants vigorous company response in dealing with matter
BERLIN—German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed into the Volkswagen AG emissions scandal in her weekly podcast on Saturday, suggesting that wider damage to the country’s corporate image will depend on how open and aggressive the car maker deals with resolving the affair.
Ms. Merkel, in comments published on her web site, said she didn’t believe the reputation of the “Made in Germany” logo has been damaged by the diesel scandal but warned against “taking it lightly.”
“A lot depends now on how VW deals with the matter,” Ms. Merkel said, adding that VW could put the affair behind it if it fully discloses what happened and changes its corporate structures in a way that ensures that something like this can never happen again. “I believe that VW is working on this with all of its powers.”
U.S. environmental authorities disclosed on Sept. 18 that Volkswagen had used a software device on some diesel-powered engines to manipulate emissions test and their cars appear cleaner in the lab than during normal road driving. The company is under investigation in the U.S. and Germany.
VW has since acknowledged that the software was installed on up to 11 million vehicles, including about 482,000 cars in the U.S. The “dieselgate” affair affects several of the company’s brands that use the EA 189 diesel engine in some models, including VW, Audi,Skoda and SEAT. The company is preparing a global recall that is expected to get underway early next year.
VW and government authorities in Germany and the U.S. have repeatedly reassured consumers that the VW affected cars are safe to drive, but need to be fixed to make them compliant with environmental regulation.
Ms. Merkel’s comments come ahead of a major annual industry conference on Nov. 3 at which the wider impact of the VW diesel affair is likely to be a theme.
Since taking office in her first term in 2005, the chancellor has maintained close ties to VW. Chief Executive Matthias Müller accompanied the chancellor on her trip to China this week.
In a separate development, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported in its Saturday edition that VW is preparing to offer an amnesty to employees who volunteer information about the emissions cheating scandal to encourage insiders with knowledge of the affair to speak out without fearing for their jobs or prosecution.
“Why should people speak out and incriminate themselves if they get nothing in return?,” the newspaper quotes a person identified as a VW executive as saying in the report.
A spokesman for the company dismissed the newspaper report about an amnesty program, saying “there is nothing to this.” The spokesman said the company has encouraged all employees to come forward with any information they have about the matter.
“We are not talking about a fundamental problem in the company, but rather a group of people that caused this,” the spokesman said. “Volkswagen does not have a fundamental problem in recognizing what is right and in fulfilling its responsibilities.”
According the report in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the amnesty program follows comments by CEO Mr. Müller at an assembly of workers in October that employees have no “work-related legal consequences” to fear if they volunteer information that leads to resolving the scandal.
Citing the anonymous VW executive, the report added that the amnesty wouldn’t be offered to senior executives, such as board members at the company’s brands, but only to lower-level employees.