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Volkswagen's CEO Is Out, To Be Replaced By Porsche CEO Mueller: What's Next For The Troubled Carmaker
Update: the company's first official denial has just hit: VOLKSWAGEN SPOKESMAN:REPORT CEO TO BE REPLACED RIDICULOUS: RTRS ... although at this point it is virtually assured that many executives' heads will roll.
* * *
Earlier today, as widely reported, Volkswagen released the following official meal culpa which also quantified, for the first, time the company's preliminary expected exposure to the scandal fallout: €6.5 billion.
Volkswagen is working at full speed to clarify irregularities concerning a particular software used in diesel engines. New vehicles from the Volkswagen Group with EU 6 diesel engines currently available in the European Union comply with legal requirements and environmental standards. The software in question does not affect handling, consumption or emissions. This gives clarity to customers and dealers.
Further internal investigations conducted to date have established that the relevant engine management software is also installed in other Volkswagen Group vehicles with diesel engines. For the majority of these engines the software does not have any effect.
Discrepancies relate to vehicles with Type EA 189 engines, involving some eleven million vehicles worldwide. A noticeable deviation between bench test results and actual road use was established solely for this type of engine. Volkswagen is working intensely to eliminate these deviations through technical measures. The company is therefore in contact with the relevant authorities and the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA – Kraftfahrtbundesamt).
To cover the necessary service measures and other efforts to win back the trust of our customers, Volkswagen plans to set aside a provision of some 6.5 billion EUR recognized in the profit and loss statement in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. Due to the ongoing investigations the amounts estimated may be subject to revaluation.
Earnings targets for the Group for 2015 will be adjusted accordingly.
Volkswagen does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever. It is and remains the top priority of the Board of Management to win back lost trust and to avert damage to our customers. The Group will inform the public on the further progress of the investigations constantly and transparently.
Or, visually:
This follows a few hours after the CEO of Volkswagen US did what few other companies have ever done: apologized, when he said "we have totally screwed up" in using software to rig emissions tests.
Then in a report released moments ago, Credit Suisse was non-plussed with Volkswagen's charge, stating the final figure could be far greater but in the meantime both the company's balance sheet and its dividend are at risk:
... The US emissions scandal is becoming a wider problem for VW. VW confirmed the violating software is present in 11m global vehicles. The company is taking a €6.5bn provision to cover the cost of service measures, although this is unlikely to be the final figure in our view. With further charges from potential regulatory penalties, civil litigation, and market share losses, this figure could be exceeded by far. This in turn will likely put pressure on VW's balance sheet and dividend payments.
Financial implications could be material: The balance sheet is at significant risk to deteriorate beyond the impact of the €6.5bn provision the company has announced so far. With group free cash flow generation largely dependent on China (we estimate 94% of industrial free cash flow – 78% dividend from JV), there could be increasingly risk to dividend payments.
And with typical, if tainted, German efficiency, moments ago Bloomberg blasted the latest news out of Germany's Tagespiegel, which reported that Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn...

... will be replaced by Matthias Mueller, the CEO of Porsche, as soon as this Friday.
- VW CEO WINTERKORN TO BE REPLACED BY MUELLER: TAGESSPIEGEL
- VW CEO WINTERKORN TO BE REPLACED ON SEPT. 25: TAGESSPIEGEL
At this point GM CEO, whose company was recently found guilty in the deaths of over 170 people, Mary Barra is forgiven if she decides to leave the room.
* * *
So what happens next? Here is Saxo Bank's Peter Garnry with his take on next steps for the embattled iconic carmaker:
What's next for scandal-ridden Volkswagen?
- Volkswagen shares lose 22% on US diesel imbroglio
- Global scale of VW's legal liability not yet known
- Scandal-driven stock collapses usually mean-revert higher
It has been a volatile year for Volkswagen. The German carmaker started the year like a rocket fueled by the European Central Bank's new quantitative easing programme to lower the EUR exchange rate and assure continued credit growth.
Following the peak in March, continuous bad news from China and slowing economies set in motion a massive decline in the share price ending with a big splash yesterday with shares down as much as 22% following the revelation that Volkswagen's US business had cheated US regulators on how much emission its diesel vehicles produce.
Including today's declines, around $19 billion in market value has been erased and it certainly begs the question of what is likely to happen.
Volkswagen share price in 2015

Source: Saxo Bank
Massive uncertainty
Normally when a scandal hits, the stock price recovers quickly as traders overreact to news. A good example is Standard Chartered on August 7, 2012 when the share price fell as much as 26% intraday on news that the bank had helped the Iranian government to cover up $250 billlion in illegal transactions.
A few weeks later, the bank settled with US regulators and was fined $340 million. As the chart below shows, the share price jumped back to new highs by year-end.
Standard Chartered share price (second half 2012):

Source: Saxo Bank
So why are buyers not coming to the table in droves when it comes to Volkswagen? The uncertainty is simply much greater and there is no precedent in this case. With Standard Chartered, analysts had a reasonable idea within a few weeks how big the fine could be.
If an automaker violates the Clean Air Act it costs $37,500 per vehicle. Given the number of sold diesel cars, this brings the potential fine to $20 billion. However news out this morning states that other governments such as Australia will now look into the matter and see if their emission standards have been violated by Volkswagen.
In plain language, this may not be an isolated case so the tail risk is just much bigger.
In the worst-case scenario, Volkswagen will be banned from selling diesel vehicles in the US for a certain period such as BNP Paribas was banned from conducting certain USD transactions for a year, on top of a $9 billion fine due to the French bank's involvement in helping Sudan, Cuba and Iran perform said transactions.
The point here is that US regulators are not shy to send a strong signal to companies when they violate the rules. It is in this light that the large declines should be viewed.
What should traders do?
It seems unlikely that US regulators would fine Volkswagen to the tune of $20 billion. The German automaker gets 13.6% of its revenue from North America which means probably around 10-12% from the US. Assuming a pro rata share on profits, Volkswagen makes around €1.1-1.3 billion in profits from its US business.
It would be unheard of to fine a company so disproportionately to its annual profits. As such, it looks like an overreaction in the share price.
What normally happens in these events (short-term) is that mean-reversion strategies kick in and begin buying shares. However, if the selling pressure is too big from long-term investors and short sellers then stops are hit and mean reversion strategies withdraw again quickly.
It is simply not worth it in the short term to supply liquidity.
In little more than a week we are rolling into October and then thousands of longer term quant-driven equity funds will be crunching the numbers. A company like Volkswagen will likely shift into being a very attractive value stock given that no databases will have updated earnings forecasts for FY'16.
As these quant-driven equity funds often have hundreds of positions they do not care about the firm-specific risk tied to this event. As a result, their computer programs will kick in and begin buying Volkswagen shares.
For the next couple of days the share price will wobble as the flow of sellers and buyers arrive at the table. Short-term, it looks like the mean reversion strategies are pulling away and thus only market-makers stand as last defense but they are only providing brief liquidity before flipping the shares. It could take a week for the stock price to settle as the longer term quant-driven equity funds get into action.
But opportunities on the upside will occur, but it requires good timing. We stay on the sideline for now as we already have German carmaker exposure through BMW.
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They have 20 facility's in the us 2 of which make cars penn and tenn
Posted earlier -
From the overseas morning recap -
"While in terms of corporate bonds, Volkswagen's hybrid bond has fallen by over 4 points this morning to their lowest intraday levels on record."
I wonder how much of this crap has been used as collateral over and over on the $700 Trillion derivative time bomb?
We don't know what the trigger will be but the popping of this bubble will come out of left field but will be felt around the world.
This is probably the tip of th eice-berg in the deeply entrenched and rather criminal global automotive industry.
A den of vipers? Too strong perhaps, but close.
There products kill 1.5 million people a year. Blame the users? That is a cop-out.
I hope these behemoths crash and fucking BURN, so that people can travel safely again...
I'm doing something about this shite...I've got some sniggers...some good words...
Let us see....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjmWeypvoQg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLWbiGxYq10
A few thousand plebians dead from breathing polluted air is a small cost to pay in view of the large executive bonuses for a job well done.
Seriously SOZ and the beauty is that the insurance industry sits in the middle telling us what arms, legs and lives are wirth, absolving these entities from doing good design...
A few thousand? These new diesel emissions standards are ridiculously strict. Even a substantial violation of today's standards would still be much, much, much cleaner than old diesels were.
Prime example of why we need more deregulation! If there were no regulations, VW would have no reason to cheat!
And out of the goodness of the Executives Hearts, they would have exceeded the emission standards all on their own and not polluted the air one bit..it's in the COMPANIES long term interest to act responsibly...
If you agree with that, then you're a RIGHTWINGNUTJOB...
Oh, man! I saw how the Germans handle this shit on Breaking Bad; keep that guy away from the defibrillator!
Jeezus H. F'ing...
I doubt ONE person suffered as much as a runny nose, or even a heavy cough, from the increased NOX emissions from a few hundred thousand vehicles scattered across the US.
I'm not condoning what VW did, but can we stop with the baseless hyperbole?
Someone died.....that's almost always happens.
"At this point GM CEO, whose company was recently found guilty in the deaths of over 170 people, Mary Barra is forgiven if she decides to leave the room."
that's nice Tyler, but we're talking about Volkswagen... stay on point and leave the pathetic mewling attempts at misdirection on the cutting room floor, ok?
Come on, Turtle, one should never miss an opportunity to stick a knife in Government Motors.
Turtle is a libtard so he loves GM-Obola-UAW which has robbed American taxpayers.
This is another Obola-zio shakedown and threat to the Germans over taking more refugees, Syria, Ukriane, et al. Don't even think of cozying up to Putin and Russia.
They did this to French bank BNP not long ago because BNP was helping liquidate Russia's holdings of US Treasury bonds.
you guys are fucking morons... as for you specifically Freddie, what you don't know about me could fill volumes so keep your fucking cock holster shut
One manufacturing facility in TN; PA plant was idled years ago in the 80's I believe.
And nobody could tell Volkswagon was lying? Have you ever driven behind one of those oil stoves going up a hill? For fuck sakes...good thing they will soon be off the road!!!!
LOL
Clearly you are still living in the 80's and 90's. Diesel's have come a long way since then by way of much much less smoke and remarkably better performance. Part of it has to do with cleaner diesel fuel and part with computer control technology and better engineering.
That is not to say VW did not cheat. But if you are following a diesel car that is smoking in large quantities while going up hill, you are following an ancient relic (and it ain't Gold).
Sadly not my experience..even the new ones stink. I own a new Ram 3500 diesel so I know what the new diesels are capable of.
Here we go: (I guess the nose knows)
Meanwhile, the California Air Resources Board tested the vehicles in their laboratories and they passed.
Open RoadThen German received the results of the real-world tests.
“We were astounded when we saw the numbers,” he said.
On the open road, the Jetta exceeded the U.S. nitrogen oxide emissions standard by 15 to 35 times. The Passat was 5 to 20 times the standard.
“It was shocking,” German said.
Interesting. I followed a relatively new VW diesel up the mountain a few weeks back and was actually surprised how clean it was. I wonder if there are variations in diesel fuel around the country?
The formula for gasoline varies based upon many variables including rural or urban among other things. It also varies between summer and winter. I know nothing about the blending of diesel fuel.
I stopped reading at RAM 3500
Diesels that are putting out a large amount of smoke have probably never been maintained at all.
Other than changing the oil in a new vehicle there is no maintenance, unless you are driving around with the check engine light on.
The car should tell you when you are polluting unless you have replaced the chip in it.
Chrysler makes the worst shit. The Fiat deal was because when Angelli died, the son in law family became major shareholders. They are zios.
Well my recent experience is from July, when I rented a European TDI in Ireland. Car drove like a charm, not a single scent of diesel except when refueling (and I only did that twice in a week of 1800 km driving).
Again, not condoning what they did, but there are far more dangerous and serious crimes than this.
You watch, people are going to try to hunt down these "EPA Cheating" models...or if they already own them, start doing their own maintenance to keep corporate from updating the car's software.
This is a tough guy.
Remember the one from BMW? In such circumstances he would have died instead of fainting.
All I have to say about this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zvK7_wI0dM
Subprime cars bitches!!
What's next for scandal-ridden Volkswagen?
Nationalised
transfer (a major branch of industry or commerce) from private to state ownership or control.
I had bonds.......guess I'm screwed.
Bonds or BUNDS?
Big differance
They'll just switch production to building more Leopards for the Eastern Front.
Der Sieg is near!
Get a shotgun. That Black Swan is sheetting all over the short-term paper keeping those VW cars on the lots.
I knew a guy who bought a VW Bug during college. The engine was in a box in the back seat. He fixed it up and drove the thing for several years. Try doing that now.
Yes you could change a clutch in a Bug in 30 Minutes
4 bolts, throttle cable and some clips and drop the engine out on a trolley jack
Good days
Rebuilt the carb in a '68 on the side of I-40 back in the early 70's. Always kept spare parts. At the time I suspected the diaphragm, but hindsight suggests more likely vapor-lock.
Swirling about the drain. All that is needed to see it is perspective.
I know some people that have VW products with TDI engines, and they love the shit out of them.
I actually think it's kind of awesome they managed an EPA workaround.
It's amazing that the TDI gets such good gas mileage - we spite ourselves in that we should 'subtract' the energy and pollution that is 'saved' by getting good mileage versus using MOAR gas to go the same distance.
Me too, the damn things run forever. And they hold their value beyond belief.
I own two gas models, great cars. Maybe get another one on the cheap soon.
Germany is under attack.
Why that feelsjust like 1933...
judea declares war on germany.
That is an interesting connect there Chuck...
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Jud...
I totally love the shit out of my 2013 Passat TDI. 48 mpg and it handles mountain roads almost as good as my 1983 Porsche 911. Obama and the unions are out for VW blood.
The good news is your unaltered TDI is worth more than it was yesterday. The EPA with this ruling has basically turned cars with fuel efficient diesel engines into scarce resources.
Should be some good prices on VWs this fall. Get 'em before the EPA makes VW 'fix' them!
In the words of fellow german, heidi klum, YOU'RE OUT!
https://youtu.be/64jST_wDAME
There is far far more to this than meets the eye.
VW maintained the appearance of meeting some bullshit standard, a standard that is nothing but appearances and from the likes of the US EPA. US EPA = hypocrisy on steroids.
Bully for VW and every other auto builder that gives the EPA the finger. Long bureaucracy nullification.
Diesel fuel is pure fucking poison. The new engiines make it look and smell cleaner but unless you're Keith Richards you probably don't want to be anywhere near one. There's a reason it's cheap.
Diesel fuel is pure fucking poison.
Gasoline engine exhaust is far far more toxic than diesel. Diesel exhaust for the most part is just sooty.
This is why it's such a joke to say the Germans used diesel exhaust to gas the Jews in the holohoax. If they were going to use this technique, I guarantee they were smart enough to use gasoline engines exhaust and not diesel exhaust.
Death from diesel exhaust is much, much slower. One of my buddies is a scientst at exxon and he lectured me one night about how nasty the fine particles are. He likened it to asbestos but I'm only going on what he said.
Death from diesel exhaust is much, much slower. One of my buddies is a scientst at exxon and he lectured me one night about how nasty the fine particles are.
Sounds fishy. But also infinitely more difficult to prove. So just claim it and demand someone comply or disprove it. But the "much much slower" part does suggest the Germans were likely smart enough not to use it to exterminate Jews ... as the Jews tell us they were exterminated.
My first employment was in a diesel engine lab. All my friends were intimately familiar with everything having to do with diesel engine combustion. They knew it was dramatically better than gasoline. The downside was just the soot and the noise and slow response (fixed by turbo charging).
Asbestos and lungs don't work well with each other. But growing up we had asbestos roofing, asbestos siding, asbestos flooring, asbestos insulation, asbestos pot holders. I'm 71. I don't know a single person who suffered from asbestosis.
Coal miners suffer from coal dust. I don't know any coal miners but for sure I don't know a single person who suffered from exposure to coal dust.
When I was a child, standing at a bus stop, I loved the smell of diesel exhaust. I liked the smell of gasoline exhaust then too. But that gave me a headache ... diesel never did. Regardless, I've lived a long life with zero medical bills.
I know this leaves an easy opening for a slur ... so slur away.
Hey, no slurs from me. I'm happy to be educated about any subject. As regards asbestosis I do know of people who died from it but they were the guys installing and working with the raw building materials. My grandfather was a coal miner and and he and a lot of his friends died young but no one really knows whether that was attributable to coal dust. They just didn't investgate that stuff too closely back then.
they were the guys installing and working with the raw building materials. My grandfather was a coal miner and and he and a lot of his friends died young but no one really knows whether that was attributable to coal dust. They just didn't investgate that stuff too closely back then.
You are correct. Industrial accidents and dangerous practices used to be a zero cost of doing business. Now they are not ... at least in this country. Other countries, as they mature, also increase their attention to industrial accidents ... and their costs go up, sometimes to the point of being uncompetitive.
Be we have become a society of chicken littles. We have translated these industrial risks to risks to the general population. Everything now is carcinogenic.
My point is that the risk of creating something does not translate to the risk of having and using it. And the asbestos industry is a perfect example.
Another example with no roots anywhere is global warming ... now climate change ... soon to be who knows what. The cover on that intitive was blown with the dump of the emails. I read them. They exhibited how the whole farce was cooked up, faked, protected from exposing science, and distributed. Since most people don't go to the trouble of studying such things and rather just respond to the propaganda, the initiative is working. And the perps are making their money on the carbon credits.
Why did WTC7 fall down? By my ongoing personal poll, only 15 out 186 even know it did fall down. That's just barely 8%. That's not paying attention. That's propaganda, disinformation, and information filtering worked splendidly.
Sure, any thinking person knows that WTC1, 2 and 7 were scams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7Qt4bV0B8
Global warming is designed to make paying carbon credits cheaper than solving pollution. So any country that pollutes the fuck out of the environment can instead pay the much cheaper carbon credits and all of the profits go to goldman sachs who take the CC commisiions and the rothschild bank that funds it.
My exxon friend used to deal with the EPA on a weekly basis and he hated them. HIs viewpoint on diesel came about becuase I asked him why he sold the VW passat that he used to own. He said that the system they used could never filter out all of the nanoparticles that are supposedly the most deadly. I respect his opinions. He's a pretty smart guy.
He said that the system they used could never filter out all of the nanoparticles that are supposedly the most deadly. I respect his opinions. He's a pretty smart guy.
And nano-particles didn't exist with gasoline? Next time you see him ask him why. I agree with your "smart guy" comment. I contracted with Exxon for many years and except for the few equal opportunity exceptions, they were very bright guys.
Regarding the global warming / carbon trapping initiatives: The trees are going to be oh so pissed off if they become effective.
I'm stepping outside of my knowledge comfort zone but yes, as I remember diesel has a fairly unique chemical fingerprint when it comes to micro and smaller particulates. I guess I should go look it up on google. This guy is about to retire from exxon and he still smokes a pack a day so I was quite intrigued about his downer on diesel. I only get to see him every couple of years but we went to school together and it's usually a drunkfest, sometimes intellectual, mostly just nostalgia catching up about what happened to all the hottest chicks in our class, but always fun.
This guy is about to retire from exxon and he still smokes a pack a day so I was quite intrigued about his downer on diesel.
In the olden days, doctors advertised for tobacco companies.
I am anxious to see the support for the diesel creating more dangerous nano-particles than gasoline. Soot is definitely not a nano-particle.
What Volkswagen has done pales into insignificance when you remember that climate change is a fabrication. The scam inside the scam.
Yeah, pollution controls are for suckers and pussies! I want my little girls to grow up in a smog filled wasteland devoid of trees and clean air. FUCKIN A! USA! USA! USA!
Lots of pretense that these are new nukes, but they're not, they are just the old B-61s that have been remanufactured and modernized, and are still stored at the same locations as before, i.e. in dispersed hardened aircraft shelter vaults for rapid operational tactical use, within an hour, if they're ever required.
----
Merkel agrees: USA siting new nuclear bombs in Germany
German Economic News | September 21, 2015
The United States begin the deployment of new nuclear weapons in Germany. The Bundestag decided only in 2009 with the majority that the US should withdraw its nuclear weapons. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has remained patently idle. Instead, the German taxpayers now have to pay for the modernization of airports for the US Air Force. [actually, it is for the German's air power capability as well]
On the Bundeswehr Büchel Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate start these days preparing for the deployment of new American nuclear bombs. This is confirmed by US budget plans, the ZDF magazine Frontal 21 Armor expert reports confirm that the new tactical nuclear weapons of the type B-61-12 much more targeted than the atomic bombs that store date in Büchel. [i.e. much more precise delivery, therefore uses far lower yield] In case of war to fly attacks with US bombs during the NATO strategy of so-called "nuclear sharing" German Tornado pilots. [i.e. these are nuclear bombs for the German military to use, and this is what an allied 'nuclear umbrella' actually looks like] This participation provides that NATO states are quasi to nuclear powers, by supporting nuclear weapons on its territory and the regional infrastructure. From this participation can be, provided the political will also get: Greece and Canada reject nuclear sharing. [ah yes, but Canada used to do it too.]
The new weapons are apparently not refined positioned politically: "With the new bombs the boundaries blur between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons," criticizes Hans Kristensen of the Nuclear Information Project (Atomic Scientists) in Washington on ZDF. [no, these are tactical delivery battlefield weapons, delivered by short-ish range tactical jets, to kill an army, or a fleet, or an air force base and are much more precise, so will use lower yields, and definitely will not use strategic yields or anywhere near them.]
"We are concerned that states that actually have nuclear weapons, practice the use of these weapons, and in the framework of NATO's practice of nuclear sharing," said the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, the consignment Frontal 21: "This is . an infringement of Articles 1 and 2 of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons [no it is not] "The concern of the Russians is not unfounded: the Nato spreads ever further eastward. During the Ukraine crisis many states, such as the Baltic states and Poland, demanded that there should be permanent NATO bases on its territory. This is connected to the States with financial benefits because they then create jobs in the operational upgrade can. For NATO, it is an advantage, because the alliance be given access to the tax dollars of those States.
The federal government had demanded the exact opposite: The Bundestag decided in March 2010 by a large majority, the federal government should "use against the American allies to press for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Germany." Even the coalition agreement between the CDU and FDP, the German government in 2009 had promised the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Büchel. But instead of disarmament now made the deployment of some 20 new nuclear weapons, which together have the explosive power of 80 Hiroshima bombs.
---
The thing is, the military of Germany (and other states) will never comply with their removal, because the military makes all military strategic decisions within a democracy, not the politicians. The politicians only believe and think that's their job, and that their authority extends that far. But in practice it doesn't.
When the military says absolutely no for strategic reasons, whatever the politicians want is ignored, and what the military wants, it will get, within any serious power state.
And frankly, so it should as the politicians are incompetent idiots. Just look what Merkel has just done to Germany with the power that she does have.
QED.
Owned a 2004 passat. The thing was a misconstruction. VW, never again.
I viewed an MSM broadcast that said their software would detect it was under test and change behavior to meet the test. Then when it was not under test it changed to give better performance.
My first question to myself was "how did they know it was under test"? I quickly dispelled that figuring just connecting up to the test equipment could detect that.
But then thinking further ... are the test requirements that destructive of performance that the vehicles aren't marketable with the diminished performance?
Something here stinks sky high. My inclination is this is just another example of government's latest self financing scheme.
it is reasonably simple for the ECU to detect that it's under conditions exhibited by EPA FTPs (federal test procedures)... the technique is really no different than designing CPUs or software to perform differently under benchmark vs. real world inputs... the testing parameters for UDDS, FTP-75 etc. are well known and could be accounted for in the ECU firmware...
remember that we're talking about systems that are designed to run under both open and closed loop... it's all feedback and control, setting up triggers to "look better" under a given set of conditions is not that terribly hard to do... proof is by inspection since VW did it and got away with it for years...
haha gotta love that downvote... whoever you are, good grief you're fucking dumb, I used to rig benchmarks for a living, I know EXACTLY how this game is played
the testing parameters for UDDS, FTP-75 etc. are well known and could be accounted for in the ECU firmware...
I guess I confused certification tests in engineering with compliance tests (ie. my annual inspection) in operation.
But we've had this forever. When has anyone achieved the MPG ratings on the sticker?
GM is dysfunctional.
VW is Hitleresque evil.
Good thing you didn't say, Nazi's. They are beloved on ZH for their Jew views.
Respect the classics.
Come on guys, I work for a Think-Tank and this headline story is merely a distraction. Learn to look for the real story behind the story. Within policy circles we've been asking what will U.S retaliation look like for Germanys' Détente with Russia during the Ukraine crisis? Using London Cockney English parlance "The U.S has form" when it comes to dishing out punishment when allies don't follow or toe the line of the Anglo-American Establishment.
What was the threat to the French government and by extension the French banks, when they dared to complete the $1.7 Billion deal for two state-of-the-art Mistral helicopter carriers? The Americans know where all the financial criminal skeletons are buried and on the back of BNP Paribas record $8.9 billion dollar fine by the SEC-DOJ, for daring to circumvent U.S sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba, Hollande buckled and folded like a cheap suitcase.
The VW case is no different. Germany has dared to stick 2 fingers to the CFR establishment by re-engaging with Russia and has been severely buggered for it. The eventual fine will be nearer the $3-4 billion mark or less if VW and Germany play ball with the U.S. Nevertheless, this is a warning to the rest of Europe to toe the fucking line on future matters, or suffer the consequences.
This is a big deal. The aesthetics of this are terrible and at a terrible time for Germany. <Insert Ferguson looting scene here.> Germany will nationalize VW to protect it. This will be a shitshow.
You can bet there are others too! Fuck you you arrogant fucks.
Sincerely,
American Engineer
US scumbags always get free paas, EU douches get blitzed
I'm guessing there are going to be some sweet promotions on VW diesels coming down the autobahn sometime soon.
I can see $0 down 0% interest for 6 years.
They're actually pretty efficient little cars so once the Middle East explodes and Brent is back at $200 it may make sense.
diesel engines = no thank you.
I don't think customer and dealership lawsuits are being considered in the financial impact yet. It is a perfect opportunity to claim fraud for the buyers and dealers.
This looks to be so massively stupid there are no words for it. The whole thing about these new clean diesel was supposed to be a technological breakthru, and here they are saying no, not really. So ...
... maybe someone better look at other vendors' clean diesel engines?
... maybe the reason VW thought they could get away with this is that other vendors are doing similar tricks with their engine computers?
So........the real scandal here is that a massive auto maker rigged their emissions tests yet the EPA and other environmental organizations continued to report declines in emissions and improvements in "climate change." The real danger here is that it exposes global warming/climate change as the utter fraud that it is. Just a way to make a few people rich selling "carbon credits" and transfer wealth from the "first world" (white people) to those "owed a climate debt" (non-white people).
Corporate criminality is out of control in the United States and around the world. If the justice system doesn't deal with it harshly and decisively there will be an alternate accounting and I can promise you one thing about that: it won't be pretty for anyone.
I am an aerospace engineer, retired from a major aerospace manufacturer mainly located in the Pacific Northwest. I led multi-disciplinary engineering design teams for a number of years on major commercial and military programs. Every model of commercial aircraft that we designed and manufactured was a bet on the company's future—literally—as one failed model could doom the entire business. I attended many meetings where very important issues were discussed. All of the ones that stick in mind were regarding regulatory compliance with some aspect of safety. I can't imagine any managers and executives I worked with not asking what the consequences would be when caught, if we were to do something as monumentally stupid as deliberately doing something like Volkswagen has done with their Diesel engines emissions. On military programs I can recall being told to implement a design by the customer that we vehemently disagreed with on safety grounds but there were never any secrets concealed from the customer.
I realize Volkswagen's deception did not involve safety, merely air quality and long-term respiratory health consequences. Still, in large enterprises everything eventually will come to light. In the aviation industry manufacturers have been held liable for products 60 years old that were built according to contemporary safety standards.
I don't think that this has anything to do with US-German diplomatic differences vis-a-vis Russia. This problem wasn't discovered by regulatory competence and held in abeyance for payback time. Quite the opposite. For instance, according to reports I have read the California Air Resources Board had been questioning Volkswagen for years about their TDI Diesel engine emissions for years to no avail. It was the International Council on Clean Transportation that was attempting to show how good the US models of diesel engined cars were to shame the Europeans into tightening their standards.
ICCT contracted with the West Virginia University's Center for Alternate Fuels Engines and Emissions (CAFEE) because they have the portable tailpipe emissions testing equipment. CARB became aware of their plans and offered to make lab tests of their test vehicles—a new BMW and 2 new VW's—which passed all tests. CAFEE testers drove the vehicles from San Diego to Seattle. They found that the BMW complied with US Clean Air Act and California Air Quality. The 2 VW's failed miserably in NOx emissions: on the open road the Jetta failed the US NOx emissions by 15 to 35 times the legal limit; the Passat failed the same by 5 to 20 times the legal limit. That's not percent, either! (Go to Seattle during the winter with an extended temperature inversion and tell me how long you really want to breathe in air like that.)
I can't speculate how high within Volkswagen or the Volkswagen Group of Companies this deception was reviewed and approved. Based on my corporate experience I can't imagine that any low-level executive signed off on going ahead with this deception. Also, engineering discussions like these spread like wildfire among a company's engineers. I have to believe that this emissions defeat algorithm was widely known among design engineers, systems engineers, test engineers, emissions engineers, compliance specialists, and their friends and colleagues. I've worked on Top Secret Special Background Investigation Programs and I do know that nothing breeds curiosity more than SECRECY! Though I could neither confirm nor deny it, most of my friends knew that I was a design engineer on the B-2 Stealth Bomber program. When I traveled I wasn't supposed to reveal the company that I worked for. But, when I checked into hotels they always knew because I got our corporate discount. That doesn't mean that anyone knew anything that was necessarily classified. But, knowing Engineers it tells me that this emissions defeat algorithm was likely common "tribal" knowledge throughout Volkswagen.
This situation also must involve a contract(s)—meaning lawyers—with Bosch to supply the J623 engine control module (EDC17 for the 2.0 liter TDI Common Rail BIN5 ULEV Engine, 04/2008) and BIOS as well as other equipment. Presumably it was all VW firmware, including the emissions control defeat algorithm, as it's quite doubtful Bosch's lawyers would be very thrilled about signing on to deceive the EPA of the government of the world's lone Superpower, not to mention their own government, Germany, the EU, UK, People's Republic of China, etc.
That begs the question, "Who made the decision to deceive all of the aforementioned governments and their customers and why?" Did no one ask the obvious question, "What happens to us when we get caught?" That "what happens to us" question is quite pertinent as this is a case of very deliberate intentional deception. This isn't a difference of opinion about how much to spend on a potentially critical component or a difference in the interpretation of test results or even a difference in the interpretation of the regulations. This is plain outright criminal conduct by individuals. They violated one of my most important maxims—don't ever attract the attention of the US Federal Authorities. Not only did they attract the attention of the Federal Authorities, but they flat out lied to them for over a year. Double the stupidity!
American engineers typically keep engineering notebooks, even when they have been told not to do so. Some even keep "Pearl Harbor" files for future self-defense purposes. Here we are talking about Teutonic engineers. They have a tendency to document everything. That should be quite useful to US and German Federal prosecutors when it's time for the canaries to begin singing. I hope that this gets pursued all of the way up the executive food chain and that the responsible executives are convicted for this stupidity.
Corporate criminality is out of control in the United States and around the world. If the justice system doesn't deal with it harshly and decisively there will be an alternate accounting and I can promise you one thing about that: it won't be pretty for anyone.
I have an 2014 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab, V-8 6.7 liter turbo diesel 4X4 that I really like. It's very quick for a truck, very powerful and it really has massive pulling torque. It uses the urea (AdBlue, BlueDef) injection. It burns very cleanly as far as I can tell. I'm waiting to see what the results of emissions tests will be for actual road driving measured with portable tailpipe emissions testing equipment. But, topping out at around 8,000 pounds for daily driving, I don't make lots of frivolous trips, because around town mileage really suffers. I only have about 5,500 miles on the odometer. But, on the road I get around 17 mpg which is better than my lighter, full-size Expedition and Lincoln gasoline SUVs used to get.
Volkswagen cheated to get their 2.0 liter TDI diesels to pass emissions without using the urea injection. That's going to make it very difficult to bring those specific 2.0 liter TDI-powered vehicles into emissions compliance without serious performance, drivability, mileage and/or reliability issues. Unless they figure out how to retrofit a complete urea injection system into them at whatever cost that comes out at. If ever there was a monumental example of "Penny wise, pound foolish", this would be one of the best.