Volkswagen acknowledges its role during military dictatorship

Volkwagen presented the results of an internal investigation on the role of the company during Brazil`s military dictatorship during a ceremony held on December 14 on the headquarters of the company in São Bernardo do Campo. The study was conducted by Professor Christopher Kopper of the University of Bielefeld, hired by the Board of Directors of Volkswagen AG in 2016 to examine the company’s role between 1964 and 1985. The automobile company is the first in the country to carry out its own investigation on the relations with the military government. The report “VW do Brasil in the Brazilian Military Dictatorship 1964-1985 – A Historical Study” is available at Volkswagen AG website in Portuguese and English.

“VW Brazil was unreservedly loyal to the military government and shared its economic and domestic policy goals,” says the study signed by Mr. Kopper. According to the report, corporate and cultural change began to occur in 1979 and in the early 1980s, when Volkswagen do Brazil pioneered the country labor relations by establishing a Workers’ Council.

As a form of reparation and support for human rights, Volkswagen unveiled a plaque on the factory premises in São Bernardo do Campo, in memory of the victims of the military dictatorship. It also announced the first partnership within this framework with a human rights organization.

“It was a historic day for VW Brazil, resulting from a long and laborious internal reflection, involving the company in Brazil and its headquarters in Germany. VW revisited its past with a view to building a look at its future, reaffirming its values of respect for human rights and its commitment to Brazilian society,” said André Senador, director of Corporate Affairs and Press Relations of the Volkswagen.

“We witnessed today the most important action of Corporate Communication of the Brazilian democratic period: the action of reparation to the Brazilian society of VW of Brazil in relation to the facts that involved the company and its workers, in the military dictatorship. [It’s] A rite of passage made by VW and its board of directors that should be followed by other companies involved in acts of corruption, environmental disasters, or other events responsible for the delay of our country. The gesture of VW is an act that strengthens democracy, dialogue and tolerance in these difficult times,” said Paulo Nassar, full professor of University of Sao Paulo and president of Aberje.