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VW must explain diesel fix by Nov. 20 in California

The state of California has long been ahead of the game when it comes to enacting laws limiting greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles in the US. Now, it looks like the Golden State is again leading the pack as it tries to get to the bottom of the Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal that has shaken up much of the automotive industry. In fact, while VW has come out and said vehicle recalls wouldn't likely start happening until at least January, the state is giving VW until Nov. 20 to outline how it will repair its diesel-powered vehicles to comply with emissions mandates, Reuters says, citing a spokesman with the California Air Resources Board. That deadline coincides with the 45-day mark after VW received its Sept. 18 compliance letter about the diesel issue. In fact, California regulators may well start testing non-VW diesel vehicles to see if any other automaker installed software that would cause diesel emissions to be underestimated. Other German automakers such as BMW have boosted their diesel-vehicle production in recent years in an effort to meet tightening greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel-economy standards. VW has estimated that as many as 11 million light-duty diesel vehicles may include cheating software. Given that California is the largest US auto market, many of those vehicles are tooling around the state. In all, Volkswagen has earmarked $7.3 billion to address the scandal's issues, while former CEO Martin Winterkorn has stepped down and has been replaced by Matthias Muller. Related Video:

Piech is back (kinda) at VW

Before the company was rocked by the diesel emissions scandal, you would've thought that the ouster of Ferdinand Piech as chairman of the Volkswagen Supervisory Board in April was the biggest corporate news from the automaker all year. After all, the longtime exec was a towering figure in the German auto industry. He wasn't gone for long, though. In a fascinating article, The Wall Street Journal breaks down how Piech is now wielding influence within the giant corporation yet again. Piech's continued sway has come in part because two people close to him have started running the company. His resignation reportedly came because Piech was supporting Matthias Muller as next group CEO, rather than Martin Winterkorn. Now, Muller has achieved exactly that role. In addition, Hans Dieter Potsch has taken over as supervisory board chairman. He's also the chief financial officer at Porsche SE, the family holding company that controls a vast swath of VW stock. "The Porsche-Piech family will exert more influence over the company in the future," an anonymous person close to the board said to The Wall Street Journal. Piech appears fully aware of his changing fortunes within the company, too. According to the WSJ, he and his wife Ursula arrived at the VW factory's main gates in a red Bentley the day after WInterkorn's resignation. If you find all of these corporate machinations fascinating, then the piece is well worth a read.

$1.4B hedge fund suit against Porsche dismissed

Investors have canvassed courts in Europe and the US to repeatedly sue Porsche over its failed attempt to take over Volkswagen in 2008 (see here, and here and here), and they have repeatedly failed to win any cases. You can add another big loss to the tally, with Bloomberg reporting that the Stuttgart Regional Court has dismissed a 1.4-billion euro ($1.95B US) lawsuit, the decision explained by the court's assertion that the investors would have lost on their short bets even if Porsche hadn't misled them.
Examining the hedge funds' motives for stock purchases and the bets that VW share prices would fall, judge Carola Wittig said that the funds didn't base their decisions on the key bits of "misinformation," and instead were participating simply in "highly speculative and naked short selling," only to get caught out.
With other cases still pending, the continued streak of victories bodes well for Porsche's courtroom fortunes, since judges will expect new information to consider overturning precedent. If there is any new info, it could come from the potential criminal cases still outstanding against former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and CFO Holger Härter, who were both indicted on charges of market manipulation.