German prosecutors open new Volkswagen emissions probe

German prosecutors are looking at whether former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn was too slow to tell investors about the potential cost of the diesel-emissions scandal, adding to the legal woes weighing on Europe’s largest carmaker.

The probe is reviewing when Volkswagen should have disclosed the risks to investors sooner, prosecutors in Braunschweig said in an emailed statement yesterday.

On September 22, four days after the cheating became public, Volkswagen set aside €6.5bn to cover the cost of fixing rigged engines in as many as 11 million diesel cars worldwide.