Bosch worked 'hand-in- glove' with VW in emissions fraud: lawyers

Washington

GERMAN car supplier Robert Bosch GmbH was a "knowing and active participant" in a decade-long scheme by Volkswagen AG (VW) to evade US emissions laws, according to lawyers for US owners of polluting VW diesel vehicles.

In a court filing late on Tuesday in US District Court in San Francisco, the lawyers cited confidential documents turned over by the German carmaker to plaintiffs lawyers in making the new allegations against the car supplier.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the filing except to say that it had no effect on its multibillion-dollar settlement of a civil complaint over the diesel scandal. The filing was made a day after sources briefed on the matter said that the carmaker has held preliminary talks with the US Justice Department to settle a criminal probe into the emissions cheating case.

Most of the allegations involving Bosch remain under seal because the documents have been designated as confidential by VW, the plaintiffs' lawyers said in the court filing. A Bosch spokeswoman said that the company took the allegations seriously and is cooperating in several investigations, but declined to comment further.

The documents include records and communications between Bosch, VW and US regulators. One 2011 e-mail to the California Air Resources Board, among other communications, demonstrates "Bosch's deep understanding of what regulators allowed and would not allow, and what Bosch did to help VW obtain approval", the filing said. "Bosch played a crucial role in the fraudulent enterprise and profited handsomely from it," the court papers say.

Bosch has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But German prosecutors said in December that they were investigating whether staff at the Stuttgart-based company were involved in the rigging of emissions tests by VW.

Bosch makes an engine control unit, often referred to as the "brain" of the engine, used by several top carmakers including VW. That system controls a vehicle's acceleration and power and is extensively customised to give each car model its own unique feel. Bosch supplied software and components to VW, but has said that responsibility for how software is used to regulate exhaust emissions or fuel consumption lies with carmakers.

In the court papers, the lawyers said that Bosch worked "hand-in-glove" with Volkswagen to develop a so-called cheat device to circumvent emissions tests and trick regulators.

The engine control system for VW's clean diesel engine was customised through years of close collaboration between the carmaker and Bosch, the lawyers said. "It is inconceivable," the lawyers wrote, "that Bosch did not know that the software it was responsible for defining, developing, testing, maintaining and delivering contained an illegal defeat device."

Bosch chief executive Volkmar Denner said in January that he had ordered an internal investigation and was cooperating with the authorities. In April, Bosch said that it had set aside 650 million euros (S$987.1 million) for potential legal costs, including for an ongoing investigation into the company's role in Volkswagen's diesel emissions manipulation scandal. REUTERS