Representatives of Volkswagen's US subsidiary asked a Virginia court for a delay of a minimum of six months before proceeding with lawsuits over forged emissions tests. The reason, according to the carmaker, is an "inflammatory" statement by the car buyers' lawyer in the new Netflix documentary series "Dirty Money."

The opening episode of "Dirty Money" deals with the Volkswagen emissions scandal. In it, lawyer Michael Melkersen comments on recent revelations about Volkswagen's animal testing, specifically on exposing monkeys to diesel fumes.

Read more: Car diesel fume experiments on humans 'widespread,' scientist say

"One cannot help but think back throughout history of another series of events involving individuals being gassed by a person who was actually at the opening of the very first Volkswagen factory," Melkersen says in the documentary, just before a picture of Adolf Hitler appears on the screen.

The statement refers to the support the Nazi regime provided the company in Volkswagen's early days.

In the first years of his reign, Hitler tasked carmakers with developing an affordable passenger car

In their legal filing, Volkswagen's representatives claim that "pre-trial publicity has connected [the German-based company] directly with Hitler and the Holocaust," which could make juries biased and prevent a fair trial.

Fraud trials starting soon

Volkswagen has been facing a PR and legal nightmare since the Dieselgate scandal first broke in 2015, showing that the company deliberately manipulated emissions tests to make their cars appear less harmful for the environment.

Read more: Volkswagen likely spared billions as US judge rejects state Dieselgate lawsuit

The company has since been forced to spend some $25 billion (over €20 billion) to pay for claims for car owners, regulatory bodies, state authorities, and dealers. Most of the Volkswagen customers agreed to take a settlement in 2016. Others, however, decided to sue the company.

Read more: VW executive Oliver Schmidt sentenced to seven years in jail over Dieselgate

Dieselgate: A timeline The disaster unfolds — September 2015 About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.

Dieselgate: A timeline The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015 Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.

Dieselgate: A timeline Raiding headquarters — October 2015 Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.

Dieselgate: A timeline Hell breaks loose — January 2016 On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.

Dieselgate: A timeline Quit or forced out? — March 2016 In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.

Dieselgate: A timeline Settlement — October 2016 On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.

Dieselgate: A timeline Imitators — July 2017 When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.

Dieselgate: A timeline Public still supportive — December 2017 Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.

Dieselgate: A timeline Fuming over monkeys — January 2018 In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.

Dieselgate: A timeline Canadian court demands millions — January 2020 Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence." Author: Dirk Kaufmann, Elliot Douglas



One of them, a Volkswagen Jetta owner represented by Melkersen, is set to bring his case to court on February 26. The plaintiff demands $725,000 from the US branch of the company.

Two other such trials are also set to start in the coming months, with Melkersen representing more than 300 people.

It was not immediately clear when the Virginia court would respond to the request of Volkswagen's lawyers.

Commenting on Volkswagen's request, Melkersen told the Reuters news agency that the filing was "hogwash."

"This is another tactic to postpone their day of reckoning," he said.

dj/ng (Reuters, dpa)