Volkswagen (VOWG p. DE) will not be excluded from U.S. public sector contracts, but will instead install a second U.S. monitor at its German headquarters, as reported on Monday by the daily Handelsblatt.
The German carmaker was worried that an inquiry into surplus diesel emissions in hundreds of thousands of U.S. cars by an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could result in exclusion, the article said, quoting company sources.
However, an agreement was reached with the EPA pre-qualifying VW for public sector agreements, in return for a three-year surveillance process due to start this autumn, the article said, quoting company sources.
This was particularly important for its subsidiary MAN Energy Solutions, which produces large diesel engines, some of which are used by the U.S. Navy, they said.
The German automaker confessed to cheating U.S. pollution tests in 2015 using illegal software, causing a worldwide backlash against diesel cars.
Since 2017, VW has placed open legal violations on an internal compliance monitor, Larry Thompson, a former U.S. assistant attorney general, around the test manipulations, and has taken measures to change compliance and behavior.
The second surveillance method, led by Artifice Forensic Financial Services ‘ John Hanson, would be less accessible, less staff-intensive, and less thorough than Thompson’s, the article said.
