The conviction of four former Volkswagen executives underscores the enduring impact of the Dieselgate emissions scandal on the automotive industry and environmental regulations.

Four former Volkswagen executives were found guilty of fraud charges Monday for their role in an emissions-cheating scandal that shook the auto industry a decade ago and hastened a shift from fossil fuels to battery-powered cars.

The four executives held high-ranking positions at the carmaker and were responsible for engine technology. A panel of judges in Braunschweig, Germany, a city near Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, reached the verdict after a trial lasting more than three years. The reading of the sentences lasted almost four hours.

Two of the managers received multi-year prison sentences, and two received suspended sentences. Jens Hadler, who oversaw diesel engine development, received the longest prison sentence, at four and a half years. Another former manager, Hanno Jelden, who worked in engine electronics, received a sentence of two years and seven months. The two men given suspended sentences were Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who was responsible for component development and received a sentence of one year and three months, and a man identified as Thorsten D., an emissions specialist, who received a sentence of one year and 10 months.

The chairman of the panel of judges, Christian Schütz, said that the ex-managers were found guilty of “severe” fraud, referring to them at one point as a “gang.” According to Mr. Schütz, Mr. Hadler knew about the test results of the manipulated software since at least September 2007. Emails between managers suggested that these results were intended only for a small group within the company.

The verdict can be appealed within one week, and Philipp Gehrmann, who represents Mr. Jelden, told reporters that he believed the verdict was “wrong,” mainly because his client was cooperative.

Volkswagen has admitted that some of its engineers installed software in diesel-powered vehicles that allowed the cars to recognize when they were being tested for emissions. If so, the vehicles increased their emission controls to be compliant with air-quality regulations. At other times, the cars were more polluting than long-haul trucks. The cars were not capable of consistently adhering to emissions rules.

Before the cheating came to light in 2015, cars that ran on diesel fuel accounted for more than half the market in Europe. The scandal discredited diesel technology, which Volkswagen had marketed as “clean,” and it now accounts for less than 10 percent of new cars registered in Europe. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids command 25 percent of the new-car market.

Volkswagen has focused on electric cars in an attempt to repair its reputation. It has since become the leading manufacturer of the technology in Europe, selling three times as many battery-powered vehicles there in April as Tesla, according to figures compiled by JATO Dynamics, a market research firm.

More than 30 former Volkswagen engineers and managers await trial in the case. Among them is Martin Winterkorn, a former chief executive of the company. His trial has been on hold because he is in poor health. It is unclear when or if the proceedings will continue. Mr. Winterkorn has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The highest-ranking former executive to be convicted in connection with the scandal so far was Rupert Stadler, the former chief executive of Audi, Volkswagen’s luxury car unit. Mr. Stadler, who was also a member of Volkswagen’s management board, pleaded guilty to charges in 2023 as his trial in Munich was nearing a conclusion. He received a suspended sentence and agreed to pay a fine exceeding $1 million.

The four men convicted Monday were among a group of engineers and managers who conspired to dupe regulators after realizing they could not meet emissions requirements within the financial constraints they had been given by senior management, according to testimony.

Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Bochum, Germany, who worked at Volkswagen early in his career, called the four convicted men “scapegoats.” The scandal, he said, was the product of “a system based on fear and obedience created by authoritarian leaders.”

Volkswagen has changed under Oliver Blume, the current chief executive, who is respected but not feared, Mr. Dudenhöffer said in an email.

The scandal has cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in fines and legal fees.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/business/volkswagen-emissions-trial.html