OT: VW cheating emissions on TDI vehicles

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by christian

Ooops, it turns out that all 11m of those cars sold all intentionally evaded emission controls.

So... Ducati gets shuttered, Bentley and Lamborghini get bought by the sovereign wealth fund of Dubai, Audi is Chinese within the year (Chinese bureaucrats love their A6s), and worst case Mercedes buys MAN (if Euro regulator allow it). And the Porsche family take their namesake brand private again. The stock of the remaining VW/Skoda won't be worth much.

Crime doesn't pay kids! Obligatorywhythefismartinwinterkornstillemployed? Oh yeah, because the board doesn't meet until Friday.

He's not. Out as of this morning. Replaced by Martin Mueller.

[Jaq]

In a slightly related incident (about execs going to jail)....

Former Peanut Corporation of America Owner Stewart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years in prison in Albany, Georgia on Monday.

[martl]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

He's not. Out as of this morning. Replaced by Martin Mueller.

Not officially. One Newspaper reported he's sacked (tagesspiegel), which was called "ridiculous" by the VW spokesman.

Crisis meetings seem to be in abundance at the moment, some say an emergency board meeting is due in a couple of hours. The full board is scheduled to meet on friday.

Cerman car club ADAC says they tested many cars also with other methods than the officially used ones. They say a) they occasionally get different reszlts than the official tests, but b) they find no significant differences between engines from different car makers. So VW engines aren't as good as they tried to look, but they are no worse than any BMW, Mercedes, or other brands.

[ultraman6970]

At the begining I read that were like 400.000 cars the affected ones (here in the us), but looks like that number globally is like 11 million cars?? ···?

Doubt this will be fixed with a simple recall...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswag...ars-1442916906

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Originally Posted by christian

Ooops, it turns out that all 11m of those cars sold all intentionally evaded emission controls.

So... Ducati gets shuttered, Bentley and Lamborghini get bought by the sovereign wealth fund of Dubai, Audi is Chinese within the year (Chinese bureaucrats love their A6s), and worst case Mercedes buys MAN (if Euro regulator allow it). And the Porsche family take their namesake brand private again. The stock of the remaining VW/Skoda won't be worth much.

Crime doesn't pay kids! Obligatorywhythefismartinwinterkornstillemployed? Oh yeah, because the board doesn't meet until Friday.

Makes boring, last forever Hondas seem so, much more sexy (as I duck from my exploding airbag).

Love the Porsche going private again prospect.

[bcroslin]

When the dust settles you're going to see that several other manufacturers (if not all) are also cheating on emissions through similar software defeats. VW is going to be the tip of the iceberg.

We make our last car payment on our JSW next month and then my intention is to simply drive the thing until the doors fall off.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by bcroslin

When the dust settles you're going to see that several other manufacturers (if not all) are also cheating on emissions through similar software defeats. VW is going to be the tip of the iceberg.

We make our last car payment on our JSW next month and then my intention is to simply drive the thing until the doors fall off.

For a VW, that may not take very long. Though I admit I'm a tad grumpy given the major engine-out service I need at less than 50k on my GTI.

[zap]

Originally Posted by bcroslin

When the dust settles you're going to see that several other manufacturers (if not all) are also cheating on emissions through similar software defeats. VW is going to be the tip of the iceberg.

We make our last car payment on our JSW next month and then my intention is to simply drive the thing until the doors fall off.

According to reports, the BMW X5 diesel did well in the WVA study.

I'm a bit surprised that the '15 Golf TDI is caught up in this as I understand this model has the adblue system.

VW will have a new chief..if not tomorrow then by the end of this work week.

[alancw3]

bottom line is that vw cheated and now has to pay the price. i just hope it is the $18 billion it should be. and i think there should be criminal charges for the executives of vw of america and prison time.

[yngpunk]

Originally Posted by bcroslin

When the dust settles you're going to see that several other manufacturers (if not all) are also cheating on emissions through similar software defeats. VW is going to be the tip of the iceberg.

We make our last car payment on our JSW next month and then my intention is to simply drive the thing until the doors fall off.

Sign seen in a tobacco shop: "When cigars are outlawed, only outlaws will smoke cigars"

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by bcroslin

When the dust settles you're going to see that several other manufacturers (if not all) are also cheating on emissions through similar software defeats. VW is going to be the tip of the iceberg.

We make our last car payment on our JSW next month and then my intention is to simply drive the thing until the doors fall off.

Me too. Paid cash for mine in 2013. May get recall software, VW will pay for thingy if it breaks. No difference in performance or mileage. VW isn't going under, any more than Toyota or Chevy or Ford or Chrysler. I guess if you want to be outraged or 'sickened', even if you want to start throwing the 'n' word around(nazi)..hope you don't have any Japanese stuff, or Chinese or......

[druptight]

Originally Posted by alancw3

bottom line is that vw cheated and now has to pay the price. i just hope it is the $18 billion it should be. and i think there should be criminal charges for the executives of vw of america and prison time.

The $18B is just in the US. And they set aside $7B to "fix the problem" on the cars globally, so add those two up and you're at $25B for US fines and global car fixes, but before any European fines.

I have a feeling the 25% drop in stock price over 2 days isn't going to be the end of it. VW stock won't be looking like a bargain for a while still.

[christian]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

VW isn't going under, any more than Toyota or Chevy or Ford or Chrysler.

I agree, but they're going to have a few tough quarters to say the least.

$7.3b set aside to fix the problem
$18b in potential US regulatory fines
Unknown amount in Euro fines, as the cars aren't Euro compliant either
Lawsuits

They have ~$50b in the bank, so lots of cash on hand, but the potential US regulatory fines alone represent ~18 months of net income.

It's not a pretty story. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bentley/Lamborghini halo brands get spun off, though they're not worth a lot - maybe a billion.

[alessandro]

This is a wild story about regulatory authority, but mainly about chance:

It Took E.P.A. Pressure to Get VW to Admit Fault
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/bu...mit-fault.html

Even with the looming punishment, the company almost got away with it. In fact, it most likely would have if not for a strange twist of fate and the curiosity of several auto researchers.

There's a movie script in here--except that nobody died--yet--and only people like me would pay to go see it.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by christian

Will Winterkorn survive Monday? I give him until Wednesday because getting the VW board together will inexplicably take them two days. He was already damaged goods. He's definitely out this week.

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

He's not. Out as of this morning. Replaced by Martin Mueller.

Good call! I would imagine that Herr Piech is enjoying this....

Texbike