Martin Winterkorn

The Federal Court of Justice on Monday ruled against German automaker Volkswagen in the country's first case brought by a car owner over the company's emissions test cheating. 

The U.S. Justice Department on May 3 disclosed the filing of criminal charges against former Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, accusing him of conspiring to cover up the German automaker's diesel emissions cheating.

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. 

Two-thirds of Germans still believe Volkswagen builds "outstanding" cars, despite a high-profile emissions-test cheating scandal that has damaged its image, a survey found.

The German authorities tightened the screws on Volkswagen on Oct. 15, saying they would order it to recall 2.4 million vehicles across the country that are fitted with pollution-cheating software.

As the embattled auto giant continues to struggle to resolve its deepest-ever crisis, the authorities appear to be losing patience.

Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said in an interview with a German newspaper that the company would launch a recall for cars affected by its diesel emissions crisis in January and complete the fix by the end of next year.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Oct.4 said the emissions scandal that has hit car giant Volkswagen was "dramatic" but would not inflict lasting damage to Germany's reputation.

Volkswagen is looking at ways to cut costs and boost cash flow and could sell more shares if the price of clearing up a scandal over its rigging of diesel emissions tests puts its credit rating at risk. 

The owners of 5700 new cars of the Volkswagen and Audi brands in Bulgaria will have to have their cars refitted due to the presence of illegal emission-control software.

The scandal broke out on September 18, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Volkswagen had to refit nearly half a million cars equipped with illegal software to bypass diesel emissions tests.

Shares of Volkswagen AG?s main Turkish distributor Do?u? Otomotiv tumbled more than 12 percent on Sept. 28, hit by concerns that the emissions cheating scandal at the German automaker could undermine sales of its local dealers.

Do?u? imports more than 14 brands including VW group marques Porsche, Skoda and Audi, as well as Volkswagen.