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Volkswagen: A Decade Of Deception - Full Chronology
The scandal swirling around Germany's largest listed company had its beginnings in an attempt to crack the U.S. market, the missing link in VW's global footprint. But, as Handelsblatt details, what began as expansion ended in deception (piecing together the events that led up to the scandal, based on the facts as they are currently known).
Volkswagen, the world’s largest automaker, has been brought to its knees by the emissions cheating scandal. The company’s share price has been virtually halved, its reputation is in tatters, customers are furious and employees are distraught.
Handelsblatt pieces together the events that led up to the scandal, based on the facts as they are currently known.
The following chronology is based on the work of six reporters and correspondents, who analyzed corporate documents and spoke to many of the people involved.
Chapter 1: The Big Plan is Hatched in Wolfsburg
February 2005
Wolfgang Bernhard becomes head of the group’s core VW brand and, with the help of CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder, begins developing a new engine that will work with “common rail injection.” The new engine is to be used above all in the United States, where VW wants to start growing again. The group hopes that diesel engines, which are more economical and accelerate quickly, will help it gain ground against U.S. and Japanese rivals. There is one problem, however: The U.S. authorities have the strictest environmental standards.
May 2005
Mr. Bernhard entrusts the new project to Rudolf Krebs, a developer at VW’s Audi brand. It quickly becomes apparent that it will be impossible to comply with U.S. emissions standards using current technology. Their solution is “adblue,” a technology used by German carmaker Daimler. Developers at VW and Audi are strongly opposed to the use of “adblue” in the planned engine, which later will come to be known as the EA 189, the engine containing the emissions cheating device. Mr. Bernhard is undeterred and presses on with plans for the new engine to incorporate “adblue” and common rail injection.
Fall 2006
The first prototype is tested in South Africa. Martin Winterkorn, the head of Audi, and Ferdinand Piëch, the chairman of the VW group’s supervisory board and a major shareholder, are reported to have been present, but are not said to have been impressed.
November 11, 2006
It emerges that Daimler and the VW group will offer diesel cars in the United States under the joint label “Bluetec.”
Chapter 2: The Plan Takes Shape in Wolfsburg
January 7, 2007
VW subsidiary Audi launches its diesel offensive in the United States at the Detroit Motor Show. It is the first German manufacturer to do so. Wolfgang Bernhard does not attend the show, which surprises journalists. It soon emerges that he is to leave the company at the end of January, after less than two years in his post.

February 2007
Martin Winterkorn is appointed as chief executive of the VW group. From his first day in office, he is aware that the group’s U.S. business is floundering. He knows that only diesel engines will enable VW to gain significant market share in the United States and to fend off Japanese rival Toyota and its hybrid drive.
May 2007
Mr. Winterkorn restructures VW’s development activities, dispatching engines chief Rudolf Krebs to the group’s Salzgitter plant and replacing him with Wolfgang Hatz, while putting Ulrich Hackenberg in charge of development. Both Mr. Hatz and Mr. Hackenberg were close confidants of Mr. Winterkorn at Audi.
July 20, 2007
The new Euro 5 and 6 emissions standards come into force in the European Union. Diesel engines in particular are to become cleaner. Manufacturers must ensure that vehicles do not exceed limits in “all operating conditions.” National authorities are called upon to check manufacturers’ specifications. The need to check whether manufacturers are using defeat devices is explicitly mentioned in regulation No. 715/2007.
August 2007
The diesel engine EA 189 is used for the first time in the new Tiguan model. It contains the software that will later be used to cheat in emissions tests, although it is not yet being used. The sporty off-road vehicle can comply with emissions standards in Europe, but not the stricter limits that apply in the United States.
The diesel engine EA 189 is used for the first time in August 2007 in the new VW Tiguan. It contains the software that will later be used to cheat in emissions tests, although it is not yet being used.
August 6, 2007
Volkswagen ends its Bluetec cooperation with Daimler. It now plans to market its diesel engines under the TDI brand.
During 2007
Volkswagen uses software in its EA 189 engine that allows vehicles to be switched into test mode. This is intended to make work easier for technicians, who will not have to perform the same routines on each car. The software was developed by automotive supplier Bosch, which warns VW against using it in series models.
September 11, 2007
At the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, German environmental organization DUH claims that actual emissions values are up to 45 percent higher than those stated by manufacturers and calls for measurements to be repeated. The German authorities do not respond.

Martin Winterkorn, the perfectionist, autocratic CEO of Volkswagen, resigned on September 23. Here, Mr. Winterkorn expects the model of a competitor at a 2008 auto show. Source: DPA
October 5, 2007
Stefan Jacoby takes over as head of VW’s U.S. business and announces the biggest restructuring in the group’s history. The U.S. subsidiary is reporting a loss of several hundred million dollars each year.
Chapter 3: The moment of deception
January 12, 2008
At the Detroit Motor Show, Matthias Wissmann, president of German automotive industry association VDA, says 2008 will be the year in which “clean diesel” achieves a breakthrough in the U.S. market. He predicts diesel cars will increase their market share from 3 to 15 percent by 2015, thanks to rising oil prices and stricter emissions standards.
August 2008
Volkswagen announces the launch of the VW Jetta 2.0 TDI in the United States, based on the EA 189. The company highlights the car’s low fuel consumption and low emissions, which have been made possible thanks to the cheat software.
November 20, 2008
The VW Jetta TDI wins an award for “Green Car of the Year” at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It is the first time that a diesel vehicle has won this award.
Chapter 4: The manipulation spreads
October 2008
VW fits the EA 189 diesel engine in the sixth generation of its mass-market Golf model.
May 8, 2009
VW presents its new 1.6 TDI engine, based on the EA 189, at the 30th Vienna Motor Symposium and says it will form the basis for all four-cylinder diesel engines at VW in future. The Audi A3 wins “Green Car of the Year” in the United States. It also has an EA 189 engine.
After 2012
VW installs the EA 189 in its Polo and Passat models, while Audi uses it for its A1, A3, A4 and A6 models, the TT sports car and the Q3 and Q5 all-terrain vehicles. The engine is also used in cars produced by the group’s Spanish subsidiary Seat and its Czech subsidiary Skoda.
Chapter 5: A technician blows the whistle
Winter 2011
A VW technician discovers the deception and informs Heinz-Jakob Neusser, head of engine development at the VW brand. Mr. Neusser notes the information but does not take it seriously, and nothing is made public. Mr. Neusser’s silence pays off, and from 2013 onwards he is in charge of development at the group.
The EA 189 engine proves popular with customers as it is economical, robust and durable, and is praised in particular by taxi drivers and traveling sales reps.
VW presents its new 1.6 TDI engine, based on the EA 189, in May 2009 at the 30th Vienna Motor Symposium and says it will form the basis for all four-cylinder diesel engines at VW in future.
Chapter 6: The Major U.S. Offensive
May 24, 2011
VW finally opens its own car factory in the United States. The group’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, employs over 2,000 staff and will eventually have the capacity to produce up to 230,000 vehicles per year. The ultimate goal is to make cars produced in the United States up to 20 percent more environmentally friendly than VW models made to date in Canada and Europe.
December 31, 2011
Volkswagen has sold 69,730 diesel vehicles in the United States this year, almost 18,000 more than in 2010. Other manufacturers such as General Motors, Daimler and BMW have sold only 2,000 to 3,000 diesel cars there. However, the diesel market is still only small in the United States, where a total of 12.8 million new cars were sold in 2011.

Chapter 7: More warnings
2012 to 2013
Environmental associations complain repeatedly that diesel cars are much dirtier than claimed, but the automotive industry does not respond and tries to play down the issue.
April 26, 2013
Martin Winterkorn says at the Vienna Motor Symposium that VW has cut the fuel consumption of its TDI and TSI engines by more than 30 percent since 2000. He is confident that it will be able to increase efficiency by a further 15 percent by 2020, making diesel at least as clean as hybrid engines from rival Japanese manufacturers.
May 13, 2013
The environmental organization DUH presents audit reports showing considerable discrepancies between test results and the figures obtained during actual use in Germany. It criticizes the “close links between members of the government and the automotive industry.” While the European Commission is discussing stricter limits, these are rejected by the government in Berlin, to avoid causing problems for German carmakers.

Two days after the scandal breaks, Michael Horn, the head of VW’s U.S. business, attempts to pass off the emissions investigation with a joke during a presentation of VW’s new diesel Passat in New York. A week later, VW consolidates its operative management in the United States, Canada and Mexico, says it is retaining Mr. Horn in his current position. Source: DPA
Chapter 8: The revelation
Early 2014
The environmental organization ICCT tests actual emissions figures for diesel cars and finds that the two Volkswagen models are well above the limits, exceeding the guidelines 35-fold in extreme cases.
May 2014
Two U.S. authorities are informed of this, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, a state agency. They commence official investigations into Volkswagen. VW indicates that it is willing to discuss the matter, conducts its own investigations and repeatedly compares the results on both sides.
Chapter 9: Tussling with U.S. Regulators
November 2014
The management of Volkswagen invites journalists to “Valhalla,” a high-security wing at its head office in Wolfsburg, where Mr. Winterkorn and chief financial officer Hans Dieter Pötsch spend around two hours justifying their actions. They promise that the group’s U.S. business is a top priority and present VW’s new models for the coming years. All are SUVs, most of which will have a diesel drive.
In April, supervisory board chairman Piëch announces in an interview he is distancing himself from Mr. Winterkorn, leading to an open power struggle between the former allies.
December 2, 2014
VW recalls 500,000 cars in the United States due to technical problems. Sales of diesel vehicles in the United States decline for the first time in years. VW has sold 80,441 diesel cars in 2014, compared with a record 93,338 in the previous year.
December 8, 2014
Despite the sluggishness of the Russian and Brazilian markets, VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda are set to have sold more than 10 million cars by the end of the year, a record.
Chapter 10: The Crisis Escalates
April 2015
Supervisory board chairman Mr. Piëch announces in an interview he is distancing himself from Mr. Winterkorn, leading to an open power struggle between the former allies. Mr. Winterkorn ultimately comes out on top following a crisis meeting of the supervisory board, and Mr. Piëch resigns from the board but remains a major shareholder. Mr. Piëch gives no reason for his open attack on Mr. Winterkorn, and it is unclear whether he was already aware of the problems looming at Volkswagen.
July 2015
U.S. environmental authorities threaten to stop approving Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles from 2016 unless it complies with emissions limits. VW engineers are unable to explain the massive difference between measurements obtained in tests and those recorded on the road. Finally, the group admits to rigging emission figures with the aid of software.
Chapter 11: The Scandal Erupts
September 18, 2015
Cynthia Giles, head of the U.S. EPA, tells the world press that VW has deceived its customers and the U.S. government. The scandal goes public. VW is humiliated but initially says nothing. The results of the emissions tests hit the German press, with the news that VW could face a maximum penalty in the United States of $18 billion causing surprise.
September 20, 2015
Volkswagen comments publicly on the accusations for the first time. A statement from Mr. Winterkorn says he deeply regrets having lost the trust of customers and the public and that the group is collaborating with the authorities to clarify the issue quickly and transparently.
September 21, 2015
All hell breaks loose on the stock markets, with Volkswagen shares sliding 20 percent, wiping several billion euros off the group’s market capitalization. Mr. Winterkorn continues to declare publicly that he is the right person to investigate the issue.
September 23, 2015
The pressure becomes too great and Mr. Winterkorn asks the supervisory board to terminate his contract. He says he is doing this in the best interests of the company, although he is not aware of any misconduct. Volkswagen files charges against persons unknown at Braunschweig public prosecutors.
September 28, 2015
Matthias Müller, the head of Porsche and Volkswagen’s new CEO, invites 1,200 managers to a conference at 6 p.m., announcing that a project team has drawn up a large-scale action plan over the weekend.
October 1, 2015
The public prosecutor in Braunschweig reverses itself and says it is not conducting formal investigation proceedings against Mr. Winterkorn and that there is merely only an initial suspicion. The prosecutor does not give a reason for the reversal and apologizes for the “false impression.”
Chapter 12: The Clean-Up Begins
VW has started the biggest recall program in its history, affecting 5.5 million vehicles in Germany alone. It estimates the cost at €300 for each affected vehicle, but the recall could prove much more expensive, depending on the technical solution required. The real risks, however, arise from legal action against the company. Volkswagen faces fines for its deception, which are likely to be particularly high in the United States. Customers and investors are also suing the company, claiming that they were informed too late of what was happening. As the lawsuits are only just beginning, the financial damage to the group cannot yet be estimated. Experts anticipate that it will run into tens of billions of euros.
Epilogue — so far
While rival automotive groups Toyota and General Motors have had to launch similar large-scale recalls of defective vehicles in recent years, Volkswagen differs from these cases in that it acted criminally with intent, which is likely to aggravate the situation. The group’s new management will now have to deal with a scandal that goes well beyond VW.
The entire German automotive industry, the driving force behind the nation’s economy, is being damaged, with suspicion being cast on diesel cars from other manufacturers as well. Every second car in Europe runs on diesel fuel. The coming months will show how well VW is able to cope with — or even survive — the crisis.
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Guess Audi didn't live up to it's "Truth in Engineering" slogan. German auto makers are going down the tubes.
They just changed the official slogan on their website to "Engineering the Truth"...
What do you bet foreign drug and food companies have been pulling fast ones on the FDA and USDA?
Engineering to beat the Idiots at the USEPA.
Good article. Thanks.
(takes a kraut mindset to push us to what we have only been giving lip service to for years?)
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/10/01/ap-sources-epa-t...
You'll find USEPA pushing incomprehensible regulations out like baby rabbits, anticipating the regime change in 18 months.
The conspiracy against Germany became evident in March, when the Germanwings plane was brought down by the hijack recovery system. Two reasons, German demands for gold repatriation and their refusal to cut their own throats by sanctioning Russia last year.
"It's Not Just VW's Problem Now"
Note that the actual quantity of “bad gasses” (in this case, oxides of nitrogen and possibly also particulates, or soot) is never quantified or put into context by the media witch hunters, nor the EPA (or CARB). The impression they both seek to convey is of an Exxon Valdez-esque spewing of noxious compounds into the air. Which is demagoguery even worse than the shrieks about “assault rifles” (which are used almost never to murder people, excepting in a military – that is, government – context).
Yes, the “affected” VWs emit more oxides of nitrogen emissions (and possibly particulates) than the federal standard dictates. But the federal standard calls for effectively zero emissions. We are talking fractions of a percent differences. Car A’s tailpipe exhaust is 98.7 percent “clean.” Car B’s is 98.4 percent “clean.” They are bothvery “clean.” But car B is portrayed – misleadingly – as “dirty,” a “polluter”… because its output is .4 rather than .7. ...
While EPA is turning the screws on the car industry to achieve fractional reductions in the tailpipe emissions of cars that have been 95 percent or more “clean” since the mid-1990s, no one seems interested in an easy – and cheap – way to cut emissions not by fractions of a percent but by actual whole percentages.
And then some.
If the fuel efficiency of a given car is increased by say 30 percent, its total output of harmful emissions will decline dramatically – without any changes to its existing package of emissions controls. Burn less fuel, produce less exhaust. Simple.
Sane.
If EPA were really interested in reducing emissions – rather than dishonest political grandstanding – it would lock horns with the DOT and NHTSA to ease off on the “safety” mandates that have added hundreds of pounds to curb weight of the average new car, and reduced fuel efficiency dramatically as a result.
This is what we’re dealing with.
And what EPA refuses to acknowledge – and the lazy (or politically motivated) media refuses to discuss.
But which will become the pretext for Orwellian, 24-7 monitoring of our vehicles. Anyone who questions it or takes issue with it will be smeared as a “polluter” – or a “denier.”
In other words – never overtly spoken, just an association implied – a person who questions the sanity of destroying a major automaker and imposing Stalinist controls on the populace over fractions of a percent’s difference in tailpipe exhaust emissions is morally in the same camp as a Holocaust denier.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/10/eric-peters/its-not-just-vws-problem
Maybe the US can create a H1 VW Visa program to import some of those Engineers to us on US car companies...
Audi only had one car in the US with the 2.0 tdi engine, the A3. Diesel A3's account for less than 10% of A3 sales and less than 1% of total sales in the USSA.
Yep, they deserve to be strung up by their ballz.
For the children.
FFS
Stay away from AUDI. AUDI's ARE complete pieces of SHIT!
My wife's Audi was recalled for high oil consumption. It was 1 quart for every 1,000 miles. Engine never smoked though. Car required complete engine rebuild and software update. This was a gasoline engine! All Audi and VW engines have special software in them. I would not be surprised to find that they have special maintenance shit added so the engine throws an error code whenever business is slow at Audi. They covered the rebuild but this premium German engineering is complete bullshit. The once great German Engineering community has disappeared. Cheating is so much easier.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Audi-A4-Pistons-Rings-Rods-Parts/33623/bn_131774...
I feel the same way about BMW actually, which is IMO much worse than AUDI, with their Chinese manufacturing plants, asshole corrupt dealers and cars that are purposely engineered with strategically placed cheap plastic parts that are timed to break at around 60,000 miles (hint BMW warranty ends at 50k), so to make more money on you when you pay for repairs or for a new transmission, whereas if these parts were metal, the transmission can easily go 300,000 miles like they used to in the past before greed took over.
Want proof? See this vid at 14:23, which shows a mechanic who took apart a BMW X5M transmission and shows you the plastic part (which could have easily been metal) that causes the planned breakdown of the transmission, take a look: https://youtu.be/NHpOEPT0VtQ?list=PLyzrNBf9KMdpeIIP1w9IBg0rIdb14oo66&t=862
How do I get a down arrow by telling about my issues with POS AUDIs and their recall issue with oil consumption?
http://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2014/audi-oil-consumption-lawsuit.shtml
May 24, 2011
"VW finally opens its own car factory in the United States."
That was the dumb move. Giving up to 5 % of world pupulation.Go to their jurisdiction. Fools.
I'm getting a VW TDI now. Fukem all.
"While rival automotive groups Toyota and General Motors have had to launch similar large-scale recalls of defective vehicles in recent years, Volkswagen differs from these cases in that it acted criminally with intent"
'Criminal intent', you say...? Who is more a 'criminal' organization - VW, or the EPA - or for that matter, any of similar $$$Owned government institutions that exist in Euroland...?
All the cool kids are doing crime.
The EPA's stock took a hit though too, and heads will roll there. NOT. They're unaccountable tax eaters who can make law extra constitutionally. Not chumps reduced to satisfying customer demand in competition with other chumps.
Your unaccountable Executive Branch at work.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/fedgov.html
Soooo, you want to take us back to before the Clean Air Act? You want to breathe in soot and diesel fumes on every inhale? You want to die of lung cancer before 50 even though you've never smoked in your life? You want to be sterile from the crap the manufacturers dump in your water supply? Or worse, you want your kids to be born with three thumbs and flippers for legs?
All of these things are COMMON where there are no environmental protections, and were when there weren't any here. So you like that? Move to Beijing, and get used to carrying a supplemental oxygen supply. Keep your crap out of my air, thank-you.
For many years I wanted these very efficient diesel engines in the US. VW makes an awesome diesel engine. That fact has never changed. So, here's to you for trying to get around the absurdity of the US EPA market. Sorry doing business in America is such a pain. We love you VW.
I was watching a Sprinter van just puke out black smoke in stop and go traffic in the Inland Empire the other day. Just one more reason to dislike the land-whale-infested Inland Empire.
July 2015
U.S. environmental authorities threaten to stop approving Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles from 2016 unless it complies with emissions limits. VW engineers are unable to explain the massive difference between measurements obtained in tests and those recorded on the road. Finally, the group admits to rigging emission figures with the aid of software.
May 20th, VW hits close to an all time high ... from there begins downward march. I am sure it is just a coincidence.
"U.S. environmental authorities threaten..."
'Nuff said right there --
Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.
It's a drop of deception in an ocean of genocide, murder, pillage and devil worship.
Oh look, a squirrel.
Nooooooooooooooo! Who cares?
So this is going to basically remove the efficiency advantage of a diesel?
VW is dead.
I was actually intrigued by the new diesels. Less smokey and ran at ~50 mpg.
Guess we know how they did it.
That torpedoes a whole class of vehicles though.
pods
Faulty US regulators, just say fuck you, shove a potato up their butt and drive away.
Yes to all of the above. It was a lie. The diesel has always been more efficient in mpg. But it's always been dirty and slow. Volkswagen claimed to have fixed both of those. They actually fixed one or the other. Now diesels are more efficient in mpg, and you can choose: either dirty OR slow. VW knew that U.S. consumers wouldn't accept slow, so they chose dirty. They knew that US regulators wouldn't accept dirty, so they cheated. Getting caught takes us back to the fundamental problem: diesel engines are dirty and/or slow. It's an unavoidable design weakness.
Switzerland just announced a freeze on sales of all suspect VW, Audi and Skoda automobiles. This is economic war against Germany, probably about immigrant/Ukraine/Syria policy, and Switzerland is tbe anglo-zionists bitch.
http://www.20min.ch/finance/news/story/Astra-verbietet-Verkauf-neuer-Pro...
The Swiss refused to sanction Russia last year, too. Then, they had to abandon their peg in Jan. They don't want to lose any of their planes.
Actually Sitzerland joined in the sanctions, but good point about the airplanes. Except Swiss Airlines belongs to Lufthanse.
Good thing nobody is looking at all the other manufacturers and truck companies, they'd never cheat like those sneaky Germans.
Will this impact US immigration policy? (Limited growth)
Are all our current and future emissions standards unrealistic?
How long before the only way to clean the air is deportations?
Environmental Genocide is the final solution.
Any method of progress towards our goal is considered.
--Apply@ GeoSoros.com
What they don't understand is that by jamming up VW for environmental impacts, they've created a giant scrutinizing eye from Germany and Europe on all vehicles that flow out of GM, Ford and Chrysler to europe. Unintended consequences could be disastrous for trade, especially given GM's recent history of problems and missteps.
As long as various & sundry U.S. 3-letter 'security' agencies have dirt on the Eurocrats and their sex toys, well...
Economic failure in Europe helps buying of 'safe haven' US bonds. Mission accomplished.
I hate phrases like "well above the limit?"
What was the median value in excess of the limit?
It seems it is going to cost 300 Euros per vehicle to fix.
Volkwagen took on all this risk for 300 Euros per vehicle?
If the car doesn't pass emissions what are they going to
put into it for 300 Euros? Change the software so the vehicle
has less power / less emissions ?
If it no longer meets the miles per unit of fuel claims is
this further fraud?
Bigger picture is having Germany toe some line that the upper echelon of the Executive Branch (Valerie Jarrett) has deemed in the nation's best interest.
There is enough dirt in excess to make most anyone toe the line, except the commies and many Mohammedans obviously.
Keep in mind this is less about VW and more about making sure Diesel is
discredited in the US and as a bonus elsewhere.
Consumers must be keep consuming. Efficiency hurts us all.
I wonder how auto manufacturers will comply with Obama's order to make cars that deliver 55 mpg by 2025. That's only 9 years from now.
Are they going to ditch big SUVs and make tiny cars with 1 liter engines?
Certainly, Obama wants people to buy $50,000-100,000 electric cars.
They will comply like the Ukrainians did with Stalin's first 5 year plan . . .hand over the seed grain to make quota, then resort to cannabalism in the winter. Either that or get shot.
Mao's Great Leap was another classic mandate. The peasants pulled up their wheat and moved it near the thousands of miles of private rail for Mao's car, so he could see for himself the prosperity outside the window.
Impossible mandates always result in failure of varying degrees, but can always be rectified by moar mandates. And a few public executions.
Bicycle?
Nine years, who will need to drive anywhere? It's not like we will have a job to go to.
This is another dangerous VW problem I speak from personal experience.
Never again.
Google Blue motion stalling.
181,000 complaints.
The blue motion technology is a nightmare and should be off the roads.
Technology is constantly pushing the limits and will always have failure. Cell phones for thirty years and they still don't work lots of the time.....but they keep adding crap onto them so you will care less. Just think how great of mileage you will get pushing your car half of the places you go!
Yes, isn't it amazing what crappy signal people will accept with cellphones? Most kids under 30 don't realize that an old-fashioned landline NEVER dropped your calls. NEVER. Maybe once a decade, in the middle of a hurricane. And you could recognize voices on the other end of the line. Really recognize them, and understand what they were saying ALL THE TIME.
It's true that a lot of things were better forty years ago. Kids under 40 don't believe it, because they weren't there.
Show me the government mandate that does not produce perverse incentives.
pretty sure no democrat is going rat out GM or Ford
...and that's why we had to put them in the ovens, dear...
Germany is being punished. My guess is, for wanting to be Germans.
Exactly. Regulators don't give a shit what their corporate clients do as long as they pay their extortion dues. Germany has been showing signs of independence lately.
It would not surprise me if the Germans see this as an act of agression that can only sour relations between the two countries.
They could start by being more insistent about wanting their gold back. Would love to see them quit NATO and tell Washington to remove all American military facilities.
"A Decade of Deception"
Another 90 years will put them equal with the Federal Reserve.
Another 226 years will put them equal with the Federal Government.
The whole environmental game is a scam by power hungry government megalomaniacs. But what the hay........................... That's The Games People Play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzH7AyYGDks
So environmental organizations call foul play for a long time already but German government does not react. That makes them guilty as well. Something is rotten in the state of Germany...
Made in Germany from now on means lying and cheating. They are falling of the pedestal they put themselves on.
VW will go down. Governments and inspection worldwide will go after them. I don't pity them. They lied, they cheated and thought they could get away with it.
They can only save themselves if they bring truly clean and energy efficient technology to the market.
Germany has always had a very cozy, very direct relationship between corporate officers and the state agencies that regulate them. It's the way they've done business since the time of Bismark. The corporations are much more responsive to government demands than they are in the U.S., but the government quietly colludes with them to do what is "best for the industry". Think about how the U.S. government deals with JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, and you have the picture.
Yep. Ok, it is a bit of a Godwin but WWII (and the mass extermination of people in an industrialized manner) could not have been possible without the cozy relationship between government and industry in Germany.
More recently, companies such as Siemens have been involved in scandals since the 80s. Not only in Germany but also abroad. Remember how the Germans always complain about the corrupt Greek? Well, it takes two to tango. Siemens has been bribing officials there for decades.
Made in Germany from now on means lying and cheating. They are falling of the pedestal they put themselves on.
About morally equivalent to "cheating" on taxes. It all depends on your perspective. The regulatory amount VW "cheated" on was insignificant. 40% over insignificant is still insignificant.
http://ericpetersautos.com/2015/09/23/crucified-by-uncle/
The writer who thinks he sees dumb people must be looking in a mirror.
I stopped reading here:
"The group hopes that diesel engines, which are more economical and accelerate quickly,..."