New Line of Defence Leaves Volkswagen Pleading Ignorance

VW retreated significantly from that defence on Wednesday. In its response to legal action by shareholders over its handling of the affair, the company instead suggested that some managers spotted the issues as long ago as 2014 but were slow to grasp their gravity. It said Martin Winterkorn, then chief executive, was so swamped with emails that he might not have read a memo written for him on the issue.