The United States Justice Department has filed a federal lawsuit against Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche that seeks billions of dollars in penalties over claims that the car companies installed devices to deliberately misreport emissions. Nearly 600,000 diesel-engine vehicles were installed with these devices since 2009.
Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen who resigned on Wednesday amid allegations that the company cheated emissions testing for 11 million diesel-powered cars, stands to take home a $32 million pension.