I think VW is in REAL trouble - I believe minimum CEO loses his job but the company might eventually even file for bankruptcy - billions in fines coming, class action lawsuits and possibly criminal prosecutions. Maybe Apple or Google steps in to buy VW when the stock price gets beaten up some more! http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34311819
All companies are guilty of something in their endeavors to make more & more money. It's a matter of getting caught.
This one though is particularly bad - intentional plus an attempt to cover it up! And I bet there will be cases that will surface of deaths from diesel engines with too much power!
You might be right. The vultures are circling. I think that other companies used the same tricks to cheat. So let's wait and see.
Hyundai exaggerating MPG ratings is bad, but VW actually creating software that actually cheats emissions testing is incredible. You just have to shake your head at the audacity of it. The green car community will go bonkers when the collectively realize that their TDI Jettas are spewing more pollutants than 40 diesel cars. VW will never be forced to pay the $30K+ per car ,and VW will not go bankrupt for this. Best that CEO should fall on his sword though if this doesn't die down. In the offhand chance that VW goes bankrupt though, I call dibs on Porsche.
i doubt jettas are causing an air polution problem. its "open season" on auto makers - by the "greenies" and ordinary trouble - makers.
Under regular driving conditions - these VW diesels emit FORTY TIMES the legal limit under the Clean Air Act.
Bugatti for me. Heck, take another. VW owns just about everything...I'll take Bentley too since Bugatti doesn't make an SUV yet.
No, really a fleet of half a million vehicles sitting in traffic in major cities producing up to 40 times the legal NOx emissions is pretty serious especially to people like me with asthma. This isn't one of those things you can palm off as a green issue, it's a direct and localised hazard to human health. It also wasn't an accident, it was a very clear and intentional act of deception. VW is in serious trouble here, there's really no defence available to them for this. Makes you wonder though if they're the only ones, that 2.0 turbo diesel segment is extremely competitive especially between the Germans, I'd imagine they were forced to do this to compete with the likes of BMW's 120d and very high output 123d which had a significant advantage over VW initially. I wonder if BMW and Mercedes are making their power legitimately without any of these tricks, I know BMW have been creative about getting around speed limiters in the past like adding a 7th "economy gear" limited to 155mph while leaving 6th free to hit 170mph+ on the E60 M5, so it's all a bit of a game to the engineers.
Judging by the smell of some turbo diesels when I'm stuck behind them at a light, I'd say that answer to that is a resounding "no".
Volkswagen advertises that one of their cars will travel 1,100 kms on a tank of fuel. One report by a Touareg driver indicates 700 kms is the best they have experienced. Does anyone who drives a VW have any comments on fuel efficiency? I have come to the conclusion that any car company ad stating low fuel consumption, is so much hokum! I have heard that the projected fine to VW is in the billions!
Well the Touareg is a big heavy SUV, I've had quite a few diesel BMWs as courtesy cars and the Brisbane to Gold Coast return trip was about 8L of diesel on an E90 320d, about 20L of PULP in my 330ci 5MT and about 36L in a V8 Commodore. Its certainly not "hokum" that diesels can cruise with great efficiency in their ideal operating range, and 1,100 is certainly possible depending on tank size.
Remember how Audi sales were hurt in the US by the unintended acceleration charges in 1987? Sales fell by about 80% then. And most cases then were ruled to be driver error. This is a lot worse. And the feeling I get is that the VW group will be weakened enough that if not bankruptcy then a break up and/or takeover of the company. And I get the feeling Apple and Google are paying close attention to what is going on.
Well, that didn't take long at all! Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Files Class Action Lawsuit on Behalf of Consumers Nationwide Who Purchased or Leased Volkswagens With Unlawful “Defeat Devices” http://finance.yahoo.com/news/keller-rohrback-l-l-p-053100792.html
Penalties are being estimated at around USD 20bn at this point - they have more than that in cash on the balance sheet, so the math doesn't come out at bankruptcy, but the reputational damage and effect on future sales could be severe of course.
And the German government is launching an investigation into VW (as is South Korea) and possibly into the other German car manufacturers as well: http://www.wsj.com/articles/germany...en-over-european-emissions-testing-1442838037
And that's only what they've found so far (the 4 cylinder diesel engines). VW has also been selling a 3.0 turbo diesel in the US for some years now and that engine could have been similarly modified.
They've already had the CVT gearbox class action lawsuits too and there's more to come on that in other countries including this one.
