VW Emissions Scandal

I fear you may be losing respect for a number of car manufacturers in the coming days, it's highly unlikely this is limited to just VW / Audi group.

Actually the law sets specific written emissions standards for vehicle operation. All manufacturers must comply. The tests are intended to confirm compliance. They not are themselves a standard. Your comment is on target in that on road testing is already being discussed  in the aftermath of this issue. Interesting aside, one of the triggers of the investigation was a research effort comparing truck emission during test to truck emissions on the road. They were very close. When VW car diesels were checked there was a very significant difference. The question became, why? Tagging onto Tony's comment above this will cost VW dearly and put the whole VW group at financial risk. Stock price has already taken a hit, there will be huge regulartory penalties, and vehicle buy backs, repairs and legal,costs will go on for years.

Just in case you have not heard, Tesla (http://www.teslamotors.com/) is a big deal here in the San Francisco Bay Area - There is a long waiting list for every new model.

I think it's sad out of many different viewpoints.

1. A group of some bodies must have been involved in this in VW, and because they thought it's ok to cheat, now the lives of many are affected. Just imagine you are an average worker and have to hear bad things about your company at any party. And/or you at once having to fear about your future which seems to be shiny.

2. It's hypocrite - all tests on cars are in some way or the other faked. So there is an attitude of it's ok to manipulate. I am in this case just referring to the tests on fuel economy which are never possible to re-iterate in under real life conditions. For instance tests are done with four bars of pressure in the tires, under certain climate conditions etc...

3. Many knew, where involved, only a few will be hanged out to dry. The truth will never come out completely. The government in Ger any also seems to know...

4. Others will be affected, as well guilty or not.

5. The core of a technology will be discussed which is in general quite economical and ok. People will talk about electricity a lot while not talking about the whole story on what it takes to fuel and dispose of electric cars.

6. Governments will overreact to just show that they are doing great and creating all kind of strange side effects.

7. VW seems to be to me a decent company and will now be painted dark black for a mistake made by some stupid fools. 

8.......

media will love it though, the newspapers in Germany are active as never before....

...on a funny note...

it's it's good that they are not looking at Naim. The fuel economy of the black boxes is questionable at best.......

That's our VW diesel now worth diddly squat on the S/H market!

G

I confess to being the owner of a diesel VW Passat, but I hope that this scandal doesn't encourage people to switch to electric cars. This is not the answer. Currently in the UK with around 50% of our electricity generated by burning fossil fuels, and considering the losses in distribution and at every stage of energy conversion, using an electric car in Britain today creates about as much pollution as those powered by the internal combustion engine (diesel and petrol combined). Furthermore, if too many people were to make the switch to electric cars, the grid as it stands today would simply be unable to meet the demand.

Hold the front page big business screws public!!!!!

Next someone will find out that banks and politicians are crooks too.

Unacceptable face of Capitalism? ...or the actual face of capitalism?

It doesn't matter much. The planet's doomed anyway.

The EPA regulations are based on the footprint of the vehicle. If you buy a large vehicle you are allowed to pollute more. Just stop buying compact VW's and get a large 4X4 pick-up truck instead... Way to go America!

Clive - nice T5...

The CEO may of retired willingly to legitimate and grab his substantial company pension, which if he remained may have become greatly reduced by resulting criminal proceedings against him.

I'm sure the lawyers and the claims firms will come out of it well. The cold call scum will replace PPI with VW diesel claims 

I am convinced the planet will survive (unless we let off ALL of the nukes at once), it just won't be able to support life, "as we know it Jim". It will continue for another few billion more years or more and maybe another range of lifeforms will evolve, you never know they may even be intelligent this time.

I have a mk7 golf gtd. it's a great car, I'm just as happy with it now as I was when I bought it last year.

if VW have felt the need to do this I wonder how many other manufacturers have also done it. 

You generally can't sidestep a dismissal-with-cause by resigning or retiring. They simply refuse to accept your resignation. The directors instruct the company to NOT pay your pension, nor vest your stock options, nor make any more payments to you. If you don't like it, you would have to sue them. And that won't end well as the employment contracts are always very explicit in this regard. You act in a sackable way and you get sacked. That's how it works..

This scandal will unravel a trail of hundreds of people. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

They say that it is difficult to build a reputation, but it is easy to lose it

"Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving."

Lucky European...

Not sure if this belongs here or under Best Jokes. Maybe both.

Why?

Let me guess.  Electricity is good because it powers your TV and the internet and this allows you to follow the latest left wing environmentalist party line hoopla?

So cars are bad because they operate using fossil fuels (cough cough).

Where do you think electricity comes from? 

About 15% of it comes from nuclear but sadly they don't yet make a nuclear powered car.  Are all environmentalists left wingers then?  I hadn't realised that concern for the environment split on politcal lines.  If you have a hybrid car does that make you a liberal, or, if you drive a gas guzzling 4*4 are you likely to be a member of the national front?