Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) development of software to cheat diesel-emissions tests was an open secret in the company department striving to make its engines meet environmental standards, Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said on Friday, citing results from VW’s internal investigation. A culture of collective secrecy prevailed within the department, where the installation of the defeat software that would cause the carmaker’s biggest ever corporate crisis was openly discussed as long ago as 2006, Sueddeutsche said.