German prosecutors raided several Audi offices on Wednesday as part of a criminal investigation into cheating software installed in diesel cars sold in the US, overshadowing the carmaker’s efforts to banish the scandal by announcing electric and driverless car projects at its annual investor conference.
The 7am raids were part of a probe into 80,000 3-litre diesel engine cars sold by the marque in the US between 2009 and 2015. “There is a suspicion that these vehicles were fitted with technical devices to manipulate emissions, in order to comply with the US emission limits,” a statement from the German prosecutor’s office said. Volkswagen, which owns Audi, has admitted to fitting cheating software in 11m cars worldwide that concealed diesel emissions when in official laboratory tests. The German carmaker has since set aside $24bn to cover the costs of the scandal and pled guilty to criminal charges in the US. Audi has set aside $1.7bn to cover the costs of the scandal. This provision was part of the reason that Audi’s annual pre-tax profits fell 37 per cent last year to €3bn, the company said on Wednesday, although it added underlying profits had also fallen. Revenues rose 1.5 per cent to €59.3bn on car sales that were up 3.6 per cent at 1.87m. The raids on Audi’s sites in Germany took place hours before the marque’s management held an annual media and investor day in Ingolstadt, Germany. The company had hoped to use the event to talk about the future, rather than the revelations that came to light in late 2015.
During the meeting, Audi unveiled a new self-driving car division and outlined plans to offer more electric vehicles, with three battery-driven models on sale by 2020 and every product line offering hybrid as an option by 2025. A day earlier, parent company VW had sought to draw a line under the scandal, saying it was “back on track” and promising more electric cars and a greater diversity in its management team. But the raids on Wednesday morning threw the spotlight firmly back on to the scandal that has dogged the company for the past 18 months. A statement from the German prosecutor’s office said prosecutors and police officers executed search warrants at Audi sites as well as seven other locations. The searches were designed to clarify which individuals had been involved in the technology and “had provided incorrect statements to third parties”. When asked on Wednesday at the media day if his home had been searched as part of the investigations, Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler said he did not know as he had been at the venue since early morning. He said the company was co-operating with authorities. Additional reporting by Claire Jones in Frankfurt