Top Volkswagen executives reportedly knew a year ago that some of the brand's European models suffered from lower fuel economy and produced more emissions than was previously publicized.
Reuters cites a story in the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that reports the emissions "irregularities" demonstrated by 800,000 mostly diesel models were not, as VW has asserted, discovered as a result of the ongoing dieselgate scandal.
Instead, the issues were instead known by high-ranking executives for a year. It was this knowledge that prompted now-former VW Group Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn to pull from the market the Polo TDI BlueMotion model, a car that was reportedly achieved 18% lower fuel economy than advertised. At the time, the company cited low sales figures for the discontinuation of the model said Bild am Sonntag, without revealing its sources.
