The French division of Volkswagen has been reporting false delivery figures to their headquarters in Germany since 2010. The reports were deliberately forged to make their dispatch look better, said Der Spiegel citing a report by the carmaker's internal auditors.
The French division acts began in 2010 affecting the cars under the VW's brand name, Audi, Skoda and the Spanish Seat brand, said Der Spiegel.
The auditing authorities found a number of cars were being registered several months, or even years after their deliveries to the respective owners. The activity was recorded by the French business, a process that normally takes weeks. But some of the vehicles classified as delivered, however didn't even have purchase contracts, says the report. Inaccurate information was provided for almost 8,00,000 vehicles in total, report added. The spokesman at Volkswagen's headquarters refused to discuss the matter, saying “the company doesn't comment on internal documents."
The reports were handed over to the chief executive of Volkswagen group, Matthias Mueller on 24th April which resulted in the head of VW's French operations, Jacques Rivoal, resignation. When it was declared that Rivoal will depart soon, VW put blamed ‘strategic differences’ with the management as a reason for the French manager's exit.
