It has agreed to pay penalties and fix or buy back affected vehicles in the US, and has made a strong push to evolve into a greener, mobility-focused company. The scandal just won't die, though, and has, in fact, just escalated.
Prosecutors have searched Volkswagen's Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters, as well as Audi offices in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm and even the homes of some Audi executives, Reuters reports.
The raids, which coincided with Audi's annual earnings press conference, are related to 80,000 diesel vehicles with possible emissions cheat devices sold in the US between 2009 and 2015. European vehicles aren't part of this particular investigation.
"With these search orders, we aim to clarify in particular who was involved in deploying the technology concerned and in the provision of false information to third parties," the Munich prosecutor's office says.
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who says his residence had not been one of those searched, says he is supporting the ongoing investigation, admitting that the company has a long way to go to recover from the scandal. The Dieselgate scandal, as it has come to be known, broke in September 2015.
