VW Faces $17B Fine for Emissions Scam

Assuming your analogy were correct (which I'm not), that would be a ladder climbing boss, not the worker bees. Unfortunately shyte rolls down hill as we all know. As to Mexico assembly, guess who else does it. VW quality in the States has been going down hill for a long time, and so has the big three. At present I'm Toyota all the way with 2 Prius and a Corolla, but if they muck it up, I'll dump and bad mouth them with my wallet just as fast.

 

Obviously, this is a HUGE scandal and a huge challenge to VW's immediate and even long term future.
Even though I've never owned a new VW product, I will admit a long time fondness for the company and their products.
I have a childhood permeated with the memories of a beloved Aunt that drove a 1969-1970 VW bug, that was nearly part of her personality and at a time when most of the world around me was filled with American Muscle Cars, VW bugs, square backs and VW bus's were unique and individually unique products that still have a loyal following today.

And it's for this reason, that I have a hard time lighting my torch and joining the chorus calling for the destruction of all things VW.

And it's also because international automakers the size of VW are bigger than their immediate leadership, and those that make individual decisions on the highest levels. They are huge entities that employ vast numbers of people in numerous countries, world wide, most of which have no connection to the specifics of this scandal.

Which is why, I hope VW survives this reality. I hope they can emerge and renew their reputation. I think it will take time and be a considerable challenge.

That's NOT to say I'm in anyway defending the specifics of the horrendous allegations of what is fraudulent representation of their products on a HUGE scale. As the investigation goes on, VW "leadership" needs to be held accountable.

But even in a Toyota Prius website, I would say while the truth must out, and people be held accountable, and precedent be set, I hope VW remains as a company, and continues forward.

I don't see much that would be gained if anything from the destruction of VW as a viable automaker. It appears to be a horrendous failure of VW leadership, and if the allegations prove true, a severe price and substantial change MUST be made. If allegations are true, then a severe punitive action must follow, and I would expect VW's future would rely on a redemptive house cleaning perhaps at the highest levels.

But I for one, hope that in a decade, VW's still are sold and VW still exists.

 

IIRC, Jettas from Mexico, Passats from USA and Golfs from Germany.

 

There is a plant in Chattanooga Tennessee:
Volkswagen Group of America

Bob Wilson

 

Volkswagen of America may finally get de-headed, & taken over by VAG. Which is what should have happened a decade ago. VOA has a reputation for schemes and shenigans

 

So I saw another Utube for "Funniest VW Commercials" and the ad was for a 'Prius c'. I wonder if someone in Toyota called Google and 'made an arrangement.'

Bob Wilson

 

Actually VW/Audi has announced that US diesel cars sales have been suspended.

Once a recall has been performed and the results certified, I'll bet that you could buy one for a song.

Stock dropped ~25% today.

 

I just love clean diesel! [/sarcasm]

The article referenced is quite surprising. VW installed software which allowed the car to pass emissions testing but then produce 40 times the legal limit of Nitrogen Oxide? Seriously? All these people going "I'm getting 40MPG in my Diesel VW." Yeah... about that... GREAT! However you're producing a lot more toxins than you need to.

I wonder how many feel scammed by the "Clean Diesel" lie?

Volkswagen Just Nuked The Public's Trust In Companies Trying To Save The Planet

 

Hybrids to slowly replace diesels at Mercedes

 

The real question is how long this takes and how deep it goes. If its just the US, then the stock over reacted (now down 17%) I bet winterkorn steps down over this scandal. The real scandal is if it goes beyond US tdi models. If it is only US tdi models, I would bet on a $4B fine, and some resignations.

This is a really nasty scandal, especially if it includes european models. It seemed pretty clear companies were gaming the system, building emissions controls to work better on the test than in the real world before this. This is the first time a company has been caught, not just gaming, but detecting and directly cheating. BMW and Mercedes which have more expensive diesels say they haven't done anything like this.

 

And now, some levity from this situation.

(Cribbed from Jalopnik comments, by David Ruddock.)

New VW slogan ideas:

“Volkswagen TDI torque NOX your socks off!”
“VW TDI: Nitrous is standard. Lots of it.”
“The Golf TDI: now with guaranteed smog passage for life.”
“The VW SportWagen TDI with Fender Audio: loud enough to drown out the cries of Sierra Club members on your next outdoor adventure.”
“The Jetta TDI: because you were probably already cheating anyway.”

 

All cars have that down stream oxygen sensor, and individuals already have come up with ways of spoofing it.

Audi uses the E-tron name for PHVs and BEVs. The original A1 E-tron was a PHV with a tiny rotorary range extender, and the A3 one was a BEV.

Reminds mean of story, in which I might have the companies wrong or misplaced.
Some Audi employees spotted a Google map car going by the companies headquarters in Germany. They realizied was heading towards BMW's headquarters. So they jumped in one of their cars, and raced the Google car to their competitor's place, and parked right out in front.

The Panther was a tank to be feared on the WWII battlefield. Lucky for the Allies, it tended to break down quite often.

 

How this guy dealt with poor customer service problem.

South Korean Man Destroys $170,000 Mercedes After Dealer Refuses to Fix It

MERGED

Just this one post, otherwise silence from our diesel advocate members.

 

german engineers are more concerned with what they can do, than what they should do.

 

What do you want us to say? Quixotically defend VW so you have some whipping boys to respond to further on how bad VW and diesels are?

VW did wrong. The most direct harm they did was to those that bought their diesels in the lost value of the cars. The indirect harm was to the perception of the diesel cars. A BMW was tested along side the VWs in the study that caught their cheating. It had no problems meeting its emission limits out in the real road.

In the American market, hybrids make up 3% or so of new car sales. Diesels make up 1%. More NOx is bad, but these aren't a large number of cars in comparison to the entire fleet.

 

Love you, too.

 

So, you knew something was going on about 3 1/2 years ago. Ok, what do you know, and when did you know it?

 

Bisco, the sage.