Defence takes the floor on day two of Audi Dieselgate trial in Munich

Munich (dpa) – Defence attorneys representing four key figures in the Dieselgate scandal that shook the German car industry are to have their say in court on Tuesday, on day two of the first trial of its kind in the country.

The landmark trial began last week in Munich with prosecutors reading out the 92-page indictment against the four men, including former Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler.

He and Porsche’s former board member for research and development, Wolfgang Hatz, as well as two chief engineers, are facing charges of fraud, false advertisement and the falsification of documents, although the allegations against them vary.

Hatz is accused of working with the engineers, identified as Giovanni P and Henning L, from 2008 to develop illegal software that would recognize when diesel engines were undergoing environmental testing and make them seem cleaner than they actually were.

Stadler is said to have first learned about the scheme when the scandal broke in September 2015 and allegedly failed to stop the sale of 120,000 tampered-with vehicles thereafter.

The four men are expected to trade blame during the trial, which is scheduled to take more than two years.

The two engineers are said to have largely confessed to the crimes, while arguing that they were merely following orders from above.

As department and sub-department heads, the two worked with Hatz on Volkswagen Group’s much-lauded “clean diesel” technology, with which the German car giant and its subsidiaries sought to conquer the US market.

Hatz denies the charges against him, as does Stadler, who says engineers had informed him that the technology was clean.

Representatives for Stadler and Hatz have also asked the judges in the trial to reveal which cars they drive, due to conflict-of-interest concerns.

After statements from the defence on Tuesday, the panel of judges is expected to start hearing testimonies, with Giovanni P listed first in the indictment.

His defence team has said that he intends to give comprehensive testimony on the scandal.