Overview
- The Braunschweig regional court will open a criminal trial in November against five former VW employees, with 100 hearing days planned.
- In May 2025 the court convicted four ex-managers for particularly serious fraud, handing down prison terms and suspended sentences that the defendants are appealing.
- The case against former CEO Martin Winterkorn is provisionally suspended after judges found him unfit to stand trial in July 2025, leaving its future uncertain.
- Braunschweig judges say the last local civil diesel cases should be wrapped up this year, while investor claims continue at the Higher Regional Court after 43,000 customer suits and a 2020 mass settlement for about 250,000 drivers.
- Volkswagen cites compliance reforms and an accelerated push into electric vehicles as the scandal’s legacy, alongside roughly €33 billion in related costs and more than $20 billion paid in the United States.