(ANSA-AP) - FRANKFURT, Germany - Automaker Volkswagen has
suspended its head of external relations and sustainability in
response to controversy over experiments in which monkeys were
exposed to diesel exhaust. The company said in a statement
Tuesday that Thomas Steg was stepping away from his duties at
his own request. Steg had said in an interview published in the
Bild newspaper that he had known about the experiment but did
not inform the company's then-CEO, Martin Winterkorn. The
statement from the automaker said that the company was "drawing
the first consequences" as it investigates the activities of
EUGT, the entity backed by Volkswagen and other carmakers that
commissioned the monkey experiment.
The move follows a report in The New York Times that the
now-disbanded EUGT commissioned the monkey test to show how
Volkswagen's diesel technology was succeeding in controlling
harmful emissions. But the test was done with a vehicle that
used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests, turning
controls off when the vehicle was not being tested. That
practice was exposed in 2015, toppling then-CEO Martin
Winterkorn. Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said in the
statement that "we are investigating in detail the work of EUGT,
which was dissolved in 2017, and drawing the necessary
conclusions." He said that Steg "has declared that he takes full
responsibility, and I respect that." Volkswagen said the probe
would be carried out "at top speed." Government officials,
environmental groups and animal rights activists all condemned
the experiment. Daimler and BMW also condemned the experiment
and said they were investigating.
The New York Times report said that the three companies
backed EUGT financially. The monkey scandal is another black eye
for the German auto industry as it seeks to move past the
Volkswagen scandal and the doubts it unleashed over how clean
diesel technology really was. Volkswagen paid billions in fines
and settlements and pleaded guilty to criminal charges. The
Volkswagen case led to increased scrutiny of diesel cars from
other manufacturers, which were found to emit more in everyday
driving than during tests, though not necessarily through
illegal software as at Volkswagen.
DAVID McHUGH/
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved