VW chairman, CEO knew of 'defeat devices' early: Bild

Berlin

VOLKSWAGEN AG's current chairman and chief executive were alerted by the carmaker's former CEO to the use of illicit emissions-control software in the United States two weeks before the carmaker disclosed the scale of its manipulations, Bild am Sonntag reported, without citing the source of the information.

Martin Winterkorn, who resigned within a week of Volkswagen's (VW) biggest-ever corporate scandal becoming public on Sept 18, briefed VW's executive board on Sept 8 that the carmaker had admitted the use of "defeat devices" to US authorities, the newspaper said.