Ex-VW Chief Knew of Diesel Scheme Years Earlier Than He Admitted, S.E.C. Says

In a lawsuit filed late Thursday accusing Volkswagen of defrauding American investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission said the carmaker’s former chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, knew about a “massive” emissions fraud in November 2007.

If proven, that would be almost at the scheme’s inception, much sooner than Mr. Winterkorn or Volkswagen have previously admitted and nearly seven years earlier than federal prosecutors alleged in a criminal indictment filed against him and several other Volkswagen executives last year.

The commission’s timeline severely undercuts Volkswagen’s position that the plot to deceive American regulators about the exhaust levels of the company’s diesel vehicles was entirely the work of lower-level employees and that Mr. Winterkorn and other top managers only learned of it shortly before the Environmental Protection Agency publicly accused Volkswagen of carrying it out in September 2015. read more » 

Blumenthal demands more recalls of Hyundai and Kia models that caught fire

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is demanding recalls of dangerous and defective Hyundai and Kia models and is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to investigate following increasing reports of engine fires and stalls.

On Monday morning at the state Capitol, Blumenthal will be joined by a Connecticut resident who experienced sudden engine failure in her Hyundai Tucson.

The car was equipped with a Theta II engine, which has been associated with numerous failures and fires but has not been recalled entirely. Blumenthal will also be joined by a Connecticut resident whose Kia Sorento caught fire while she was driving up a steep hill - resulting in a total loss of the vehicle and multiple injuries for her and her daughter.

In late January, Blumenthal wrote to Hyundai and Kia on behalf of two constituents, requesting the company investigate the constituents’ cases and reports of engine failures and fires associated with Theta II engines. The letter also called for an increased scope of vehicle recalls by Hyundai and Kia. Following the letter, Hyundai and Kia expanded its recall to include one of the constituent’s vehicles, but they have yet to recall all vehicles with Theta II engines. read more »