Yahoo Autos VW May Have Conspired with Outside Company to Cheat Emissions
While Volkswagen initially claimed its diesel emissions-cheating software was developed by a small team of insiders, that claim has become increasingly harder to believe. And if the latest claims are to be believed, the company even went so far as to work with an outside supplier to develop the software.
Automotive News reports that Bosch may have played an important role in the development of VW's cheating technology as early as the 1990s. Lawyers for a group of VW owners have reportedly called Bosch an "active participant in a massive, decade-long conspiracy with VW."
The lawsuit filed Tuesday claims the supplier's role also went beyond helping develop the cheating software. Allegedly, Bosch was involved with the scheme to keep the federal government from discovering the device.
Bosch is the top automotive supplier in the world and makes the engine software for VW, as well as numerous other automakers. And despite claiming earlier that responsibility for the cheat software lies entirely with Volkswagen, the attorneys in this most recent lawsuit aren't buying it.
"It is inconceivable that Bosch did not know that the software it was responsible for defining, developing, testing, maintaining and delivering contained an illegal defeat device," the lawyers wrote.
When asked to comment by Automotive News, both Volkswagen and Bosch declined.
