Volkswagen knew about shady emissions practices years ago
Volkswagen's recently departed CEO may have been caught off-guard by his company's attempt to hide true diesel car emissions from regulators, but there are now signs that some VW higher-ups knew the truth. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagzeitung claims that technicians had warned about dodgy emissions practices in 2011, while Bild maintains that key supplier Bosch told "top circles" at VW about its emissions concerns back in 2007. It's not clear just who knew about the issues and where the buck stops -- VW is declining to comment, which isn't surprising when it's still in the midst of an investigation into what happened.
If the allegations are accurate, though, they're pretty damning. They don't necessarily prove that VW set out to cheat emissions tests, but they at least suggest that the automaker either turned a blind eye to the practice or didn't have enough oversight to curb rogue behavior. Whatever the full story may be, it now seems likely that the scandal will cost VW more than just a big wad of cash.
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