The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, citing a source on VW's supervisory board, said the board had received an internal report at its meeting on Friday showing VW technicians had warned about illegal emissions practices in 2011. No explanation was given as to why the matter was not addressed then.
Separately, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said VW's internal probe had turned up a letter from parts supplier Bosch written in 2007 that also warned against the possible illegal use of Bosch-supplied software technology. The paper did not cite a source for its report.
And I think it speaks to the larger corporate culture. Companies with a culture of following the rules will still do the wrong thing on occasion, but they're more likely to report it themselves and correct it without outside pressure. To me this speaks to the culture within VW: one with little care for what is right.