Volkswagen and ex-Audi manager Rupert Stadler will agree on a settlement in the emissions scandal in 2021 in order to end liability disputes. The majority of shareholders approve the deal. But the Celle Higher Regional Court declared the procedure ineffective.
The Celle Higher Regional Court has declared the consent of Volkswagen shareholders to a liability settlement with former Audi boss Rupert Stadler invalid. The 9th Civil Senate upheld the investors' lawsuit. The verdict is not yet final. However, the court did not allow an appeal. A so-called non-admission complaint to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) remains possible.
In 2021, after years of legal review, the Volkswagen supervisory board reached a settlement with the lawyers and insurers of former top managers on the diesel scandal. The total amount was around 288 million euros. Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn was supposed to pay 11.2 million euros and ex-Audi boss Stadler 4.1 million euros - in return they were released from further claims. These agreements were later approved by a large majority at the VW general meeting. Audi is a subsidiary of Volkswagen and was also involved in the emissions scandal.
A VW spokesman said they did not share the court's opinion and would continue to defend themselves and examine all appeals against the decision in detail. The Higher Regional Court has not yet decided on the liability settlement with Winterkorn. This part of the process has been separated.
Federal Court of Justice dismissed cases
Investor protection associations considered the resolutions to be invalid due, among other things, to a lack of transparency and a lack of information about the assets of the former managers - and took them to court. The Hanover regional court initially dismissed their lawsuit, but the Celle Higher Regional Court confirmed this in the appeal process. The BGH overturned the judgment on key points in September 2025. The Federal Court of Justice then sent the liability settlements back to Celle for re-examination.
The judges have now examined Stadler's case. They came to the conclusion that the information at the general meeting regarding the financial situation was not sufficient. The answers to the shareholders therefore did not reveal to what extent any liability claims would have been covered by the assets of the former Audi boss. It was also not sufficiently clear that the supervisory board itself may not have had the necessary knowledge.
Volkswagen justified the former Audi boss's relatively low contribution by saying that he could no longer afford it financially. According to the court, the supervisory board told the shareholders that it had assumed that Stadler's financial performance was nowhere near the amount of the damages attributable to him. This is one of the reasons why his own contribution to the liability settlement is appropriate.
The legal representative of the investor protection association, Oliver Wilken, said: "Anyone who justifies their own contribution on the basis of performance must either tell the shareholders the viable factual basis or openly say that such a basis has not been determined." According to the plaintiff's lawyers, the damage attributed to Stadler in the proceedings was estimated at around 300 million euros.
The scandal surrounding manipulation of emissions tests for diesel vehicles was exposed in September 2015. In the USA, the Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer had recently admitted incorrect test results. A few days later, Winterkorn resigned. VW slipped into one of the biggest crises, which, according to its own information, has cost the company around 33 billion euros so far.
VW is working on a new liability settlement
After the BGH ruling, the group put the settlements with Winterkorn and the insurers up for vote again. VW justified this by saying that the deficiencies were of a formal and not a substantive nature. The general meeting approved it with a large majority in June. There are already lawsuits against this too.
A large part of the 4.1 million euros should flow from a VW severance payment. However, this was linked to the condition that Stadler remained innocent of criminal charges - however, he was finally convicted of fraud in December 2025. VW is therefore already negotiating a new settlement. The group had already announced in the invitation to this year's general meeting that VW and Audi had "initiated negotiations with Mr. Stadler about concluding a new liability settlement against this background." However, an agreement is not yet foreseeable.
