FRANKFURT -- Former Volkswagen Group CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder and ex-VW brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard deny involvement in the automaker's use of software capable of cheating vehicle emissions tests.
Pischetsrieder was CEO of VW Group from 2002 to 2006. Bernhard ran the automaker’s core VW marque from 2005 to 2007.
German press reports said development of the EA 189 diesel engine family at the center of the VW emissions scandal started while the two executives were at the automaker.
Neither executive took decisions on the development or the use of software, Pischetsrieder and Bernhard said in a statement released to the German press agency (DPA) through the Berlin law firm Schertz Bergmann.
Pischetsrieder is currently a member of Daimler's supervisory board. Bernhard is head of Daimler's trucks and buses division.
VW has said that 11 million engines globally have software that can cheat emissions tests. The automaker has hired U.S. law firm Jones Day to conduct an external investigation.
