Four former Volkswagen executives were sentenced to prison on Monday for their involvement in the company’s diesel emissions-cheating scheme—a scandal that dramatically altered the trajectory of Europe’s automotive market. The verdict, delivered after a three-year trial in Braunschweig, Germany, represents a key moment in a decade-long saga that upended the region’s reliance on diesel technology.
Jens Hadler, who led VW’s diesel engine development, received the longest sentence—four and a half years—for what the court described as “particularly serious” fraud. Under his leadership, engineers developed software that could detect emissions tests and activate pollution controls only during inspections, allowing vehicles to emit far more pollutants during normal driving.
Hanno Jelden, an ex-manager who specialized in engine electronics, was sentenced to two years and seven months.
Two other managers — Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who led components development, and Thorsten D., an emissions specialist — received suspended sentences of one year and three months, and one year and ten months, respectively.
The consequences of the scandal reached far beyond the company itself. In 2015, diesel vehicles made up more than half of new car sales in Europe, thanks in part to their reputation as a cleaner alternative to gasoline. Today, diesel’s market share has plunged to just 10%.
The fallout also accelerated the continent’s shift toward electric mobility. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids now account for a quarter of new car sales in Europe. Meanwhile, Volkswagen has emerged as the region’s top EV producer—selling three times as many battery-powered cars as Tesla in April, according to The New York Times.
The Volkswagen emissions scandal of 2015, often called “Dieselgate,” was a major corporate fraud case in which Volkswagen (VW) was found to have intentionally installed software in diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests.
VW engineers developed and installed a “defeat device”—software that could detect when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing. During tests, the software activated full emissions controls to meet environmental standards. However, under normal driving conditions, those controls were reduced or turned off, causing the car to emit up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides (NOₓ).
Vehicles affected? Around 11 million vehicles worldwide were affected, including nearly 500,000 in the U.S. The majority were branded under VW and Audi, using 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter diesel engines.
The deception was uncovered by researchers at West Virginia University and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), who found discrepancies between lab results and real-world emissions. The findings led to investigations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
VW has paid over $30 billion in fines, vehicle buybacks, and settlements globally. Multiple executives were charged or convicted. The scandal severely damaged VW’s reputation and trust in diesel technology across the industry.
Two VW managers have also received prison sentences in the U.S. The former head of the company’s Audi division Rupert Stadler was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and a fine of €1.1m (£920,000); his sentence is still subject to appeal.
Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn had said, “We’ve totally screwed up. Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you.”
Olaf Lies, a Volkswagen board member and economy minister of Lower Saxony, told the BBC that the people “who allowed this to happen, or who made the decision to install this software” acted criminally, and must be held personally accountable. He also said the board found out about the problems only “shortly before the media did,” and expressed concerns over “why the board wasn’t informed earlier about the problems when they were known about over a year ago in the United States”.
In essence, Dieselgate exposed how a major automaker manipulated environmental standards for profit, triggering one of the largest scandals in automotive history.
Volkswagen has since pivoted aggressively toward electric mobility to rebuild its reputation. It is now Europe’s top electric vehicle manufacturer, selling three times more EVs in April than rival Tesla, according to JATO Dynamics. The scandal helped to accelerate a global shift away from diesel vehicles and gave a boost to electric vehicle adoption, especially in Europe.
The four found guilty on Monday, who have been on trial since 2021, were initially to have their cases heard alongside that of the former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn. The proceedings against Winterkorn have been suspended because of his health issues, and it is not clear when he might go on trial. Winterkorn has denied wrongdoing.
Winterkorn was once Germany’s highest-paid executive. He resigned shortly after the scandal broke but has denied any personal responsibility. Prosecutors alleged in court that he knew about the illegal software as early as May 2014.
He “did not defraud” and “did not harm anyone,” his lawyer told the court at the start of proceedings.
Further proceedings are open against 31 other suspects in Germany.
Volkswagen said in a statement that the “proceedings in the court in Braunschweig are against individuals” and had “no significant consequences for the cases before the civil courts that Volkswagen is involved in” related to the scandal.
Pump Radar
Stock Alerts
