Exhaust scandal
Conti CFO has to go
Wolfgang Schäfer, CFO of Continental AG, is at a photo session at the corporate headquarters. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The exhaust gas affair at VW became public. But then the question arose whether suppliers of software and engine control might not have known something as well. Continental draws personnel consequences.
In view of the ongoing investigations into the diesel emissions crisis, Continental is separating from its long-time CFO Wolfgang Schäfer.
In a special meeting, the supervisory board agreed that the 62-year-old resign from the executive board of the auto supplier with immediate effect, it said on Wednesday evening from the Dax group in Hanover. Schäfer had been on the management floor since 2010. Most recently, he was also responsible for controlling and compliance with legal standards.
Prosecutors have also been keeping an eye on Conti engineers for a long time in the further processing of the emissions scandal, which was first uncovered at VW in 2015. There were several raids. At the same time, the supplier launched its own internal investigation. Their results should now be the main reason that Schäfer has to go. His contract would actually have run until the end of 2024.
“Deficits” in the education
As part of the examination of possible joint responsibility for the emergence of “Dieselgate” through illegal shutdown software, “deficits in the ongoing investigation” have come to light, said Continental. On a provisional basis, CEO Nikolai Setzer is to take over the departments of Schäfer, the tasks on the level below will be continued by the manager Katja Dürrfeld for the time being.
Conti did not want to comment on the current status of the judicial proceedings and any direct connection with the “personnel change”. A decision about the permanent successor to Schäfer still has to be made. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Wolfgang Reitzle confirmed: “We are resolving the present issue consistently and in full and are cooperating wholeheartedly with the Hanover public prosecutor.”
The investigations of the prosecutors revolve around the role of some Conti employees in the development of suspected fraudulent software for engine control units. The allegations go back to 2006. Investigations were also underway against its competitor Bosch.
Employees involved?
In the case of Continental there is a suspicion that former and partly still active employees of the former Siemens Autotechnik subsidiary VDO – taken over in 2007 for a double-digit billion amount – could be involved in the affair of millions of manipulated exhaust gas data. You should therefore have accepted the order for the control of the 1.6-liter output of the scandal engine EA 189 in the knowledge that VW wanted to pursue fraudulent intentions with it.
Continental rejected any involvement in illegal activities. Rather, the applicable exhaust gas limit values could have “basically been adhered to”, according to a wave of searches in several companies and federal states last year. According to the public prosecutor’s office, it was about aiding and abetting fraud in seven engineers and two project managers. There were also investigations into false certification.
A central point of reference is the criminal proceedings in neighboring Braunschweig. In addition to the former head of the Volkswagen Group, Martin Winterkorn, numerous other people are charged there. The fraud process started there in September, but Winterkorn has so far been left out due to medical problems.
It will also be followed up on indications that the documentation of the software was influenced, it said at the judicial authority. Employees of the later Conti-Automotive division could have “complied with the wishes of VW” to manufacture a prohibited defeat device. The investigations have not yet been concluded.
The VW diesel affair first came to light in the United States in September 2015. The second largest car company in the world had engineered cleaning systems installed in vehicles, which in tests showed lower nitrogen oxide emissions than in actual road traffic. The group plunged into a deep crisis that has now cost well over 30 billion euros. Many civil and criminal proceedings followed – the entire auto industry lost a lot of confidence.