[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by volkman10

VW profit rises 3.4% as company plans diesel-crisis rebound.

Why do I feel that the VW emissions scandal was a clever insider attack to force leadership changes? For all the crocodile tears shed by board members and employees alike, there literally have not been much repercussions for the company given the scale of manipulation of emission numbers.

This is no secret that the then CEO of VW Martin Winterkorn and group board member since forever Ferdinand Piech had an all-out war with one trying to out-muscle the other. The scandal came just weeks after Piech evacuated the board since majority sided with Winterkorn. In the wake of the emissions scandal as the HQ was falling apart and Winterkorn was forced to resign, Mr.Piech proudly set foot in the campus pulling up in his Bentley and showing who is in control yet again. The fear of VW plunging into crises was not seen in his face, but rather a smirk that indicated true power. Sometimes a healed ego-injury is comforting even at the cost of the larger picture. Those close to Winterkorn also fell like 9 pins, chief among them his 2 subordinates and surprisingly, designer Walter DeSilva who had nothing to do with the scandal at all retired. This shows that clearly there were not just 2 warring leaders but 2 warring sides and for one to succeed the other had to go completely.

Now VW is stable, just months after Piech came back. Surely there's more to this than is being told to the public. Mr.Winterkorn a man who was known to analyse what screws are being used in the car (figuratively) expressed his "shock" when the emissions scandal blew up.. the top management went into the bushes and crouched. I'd say this was the perfect insider frame-up. The ace in the hole for when mutiny would strike.

[sriramr9]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Is Fiat next to be embroiled in Emission scandal? Fiat refuses to corporate with the German authorities.

I hope the official release statement was made that as per EU norms no defeat devices were installed in any of the FIAT branded diesel models as a matter of fact no other brands other than the vehicles bearing the VAG marque have such a device installed. This is it.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/italy-sa...les-1465322468


Whether they pollute more or less is the problem for the whole industry to address, common rail suddenly looks plain and dated, will the automobile industry consolidate and build better engines that can cope up more EGR related stress without compromising useful engine life and decent fuel economy coupled with decent performance only time will tell.

Sergio has already cited that diesel technology has reached its dead end.

[deetjohn]

Volkswagen to pay $10.2 bn in emissions scandal settlement

Originally Posted by Guardian.co.uk

Volkswagen has agreed to take a series of steps with a total cost of about $10.2bn to settle claims from its unprecedented diesel emissions cheating scandal in the US, two people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Most of the money would go to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to turn on emissions controls during lab tests and turn them off while on the road, said the people, who asked not to be identified because a judge has issued a gag order in the case.

The bulk of the cash would be used to fix the cars, buy them back and compensate owners. Some funds would go to government agencies as penalties and for a program to remediate the environmental damage caused by pollution, the person said.

Owners would have a choice between selling their vehicles back to VW at the value before the scandal broke on 18 September 2015, or keeping the cars and letting the company repair them. Either way, they would also get $1,000 to $7,000 depending on their car’s age, with an average payment of $5,000, one of the people said.

Okay. So, that's the owners in the US taken care of. What about the owners in other countries or damage to the environment??

[volkman10]

Here is a twist,
Nissan Sues South Korea Government Over Allegations of Emissions Cheating.

South Korea had tested 20 diesel vehicles made by several manufacturers. Nissan was slapped with a fine of 340 million won (USD 290,000)
Order to recall over 800 Qashqai SUVs sold in the country was also issued.

link-reuters

[VW2010]

Okay. So, that's the owners in the US taken care of. What about the owners in other countries or damage to the environment??

In India, they will buy the law in their favor and maximum offer a repair work with multi point free check up, oil change and a key chain.

I dont expect our govt requesting for same steps to be taken for all cars sold by VW in India and we all know the law is for the rich ones not just in India but across the world.

[vin_b]

VW to Pay USD 10k to Each Owner Under Emissions Settlement Deal

Source

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

1. VW will pay each owner USD 10,000 under a USD 14.7 billion deal
2. The deal sets aside USD10 billion to repair/ buy back 475,000 VW vehicles
3. The settlement still requires a judge's approval

[dark.knight]

Once again the insider theory comes into play here, the very reason that Winterkorn & Piech locked horns - the inability of VW Group to expand their trucking business and over-diversification leading to dilution of profits is now receiving attention from the man who raised the issue in the first place.

Ferdinand Piech is now considering selling off their trucking divisions MAN & Scania as they have not proven to be top sellers or profit-makers for the group.. an issue he raised over a year back with Martin Winterkorn at the helm. Ducati may also be sold as they group evidently looks to consolidate and strengthen the light passenger vehicle segment only.

In my view this is a routine fluctuation for an entity which grew purely by acquisitions and not by in-house innovation per-se. One too many acquisitions will always dilute the working style and there will come a time when it has to shed the weight by selling off departments which consume too much time for lesser-than-expected income. It is always better to get the cash, restructure and move on. The income from such sale will more than compensate for the fines to by paid by VW. While these are educated rumours as of now I wouldn't be surprised if they become true in the next few weeks.. Piech is a car guy and has always been that.

[volkman10]

VW escapes cheating fines in Germany if it fixes all dieselgate-affected cars.

Volkswagen AG is set to escape fines from the German Transport Ministry after cheating on emissions tests for years, despite growing public ire over the lack of compensation for European owners of tainted vehicles.

It’s sufficient for Volkswagen to fix diesel vehicles in Germany so that they meet legal requirements

The reasons for the wide disparity in the handling of the crisis stems from equally large differences in legal and regulatory structures between the U.S. and the European Union. The lack of class-action lawsuits is a major disadvantage for European consumers, undermining their leverage in negotiations. Europe also doesn’t clearly ban switch-off devices -- the bit of software at the heart of the scandal -- and allows them to be used if they help protect the engine.

Link

[RavenAvi]

Now, a consumer group from Italy called Altroconsumo, who is a member of the BEUC (European Consumer Organisation) has come forward with it's test findings on an Audi Q5, and has claimed that the technical fixes for European cars implicated in the dieselgate scandal may prove to be ineffective, in the end.

The group found out that when the defeat device fitted inside the Q5 was removed, NOx emissions rose up by as much as 25%, than before.

Official statement by the group:

"This is another blow for EU consumers and a new dimension of the VW scandal. This test by our Italian member clearly demonstrates that VW’s solution to deactivate the defeat device is not reliable.

It is imperative that the German testing agency who approved the fix, but also their national counterparts, urgently re-examine the solutions to repair the affected cars and that they publish these results. Consumers need to be 100 percent certain that their car will be in conformity with emission thresholds after the recall. National public authorities must finally take action and put pressure on VW to correct their misbehaviour."

A spokesman for the BEUC said that in light of these new findings, they will be looking into retesting other cars that have been fixed. He also stated that the retesting of vehicles should be the responsibility of public authorities, as well as Volkswagen itself should be re-examining the tests it may have carried out on the vehicles, post-recall.

ACI

[Sutripta]

Interesting reading:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...e-history.html

Regards
Sutripa

[csnanjappa]

Its not been a year and reading news that VW manufactured more cars in 2016 when compared to Toyota and GM . I was thinking due to emissions scandal and loses it would take another 10 years for VW to overtake Toyota but this has happened in less than 10 months :(.
I don't think the diesel emission scandal has hurt VW to that extent .

"The Volkswagen Group has manufactured more cars than Toyota and General Motors in the first half of 2016, and is now the largest producer – and seller - of cars in the world."
http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...al-402666.aspx

[volkman10]

Another emission scandal brewing?

French emissions report shows abnormalities at Renault.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday he had received a French report on emissions levels of Renault and other carmakers, and that it showed abnormalities similar to those in German investigations

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...thers/53527320

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Interesting reading:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...e-history.html
Regards
Sutripa

Thanks Sutripta - apart from the perspective that the Daily Beast article gives on the scale of the scam & the insane arrogance behind it, it is also revealing of our car buying mindset that so many of us persist in the sycophantic worshipping of the brand!

..."They cited the highest fine, imposed against Hyundai/Kia as amounting to “barely $91 per vehicle” and added “fines in this amount are not even remotely capable of influencing the share price of a globally operative company such as Volkswagen......”

...“To allow its defeat device equipped vehicles to pass New York’s inspection and maintenance tests,” says the lawsuit, “Volkswagen therefore needed to, and in fact did, implement a further cheat: It programmed the OBD systems to falsely report at inspection time that the automobile emissions systems were working properly.”

"...has a lot to do with the company’s consistent failure to become a major player in the North American market, and the uniquely German mindset that they displayed over the many decades of that failure."

..."We are German engineers. We know how to make things that work right, that are logical, that show this is the way a car should be and Americans should understand how great this is...”

..."The New York lawsuit reveals internal VW documents under the title of “Volkswagen’s Opportunities with Clean Diesel” and the company’s declared intent to “OWN the segment before the competition comes to market” and to “own Clean Diesel in the way Toyota owns Hybrid.” VW marketing was instructed to use Clean Diesel as an “environmental halo” in its campaigns."

..."They were basically making one car for the world,” Rechtin told The Daily Beast. “The way they treat overseas markets is very paternalistic. If the overseas markets have any say at all it’s basically in color and trim.”

..."And what did Toyota do that the Germans did not? “Genshi Genbutsu”—a Japanese maxim usually interpreted as “go and see” but, more literally, “actual place, actual thing.”
In other words, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan listened to what the Americans wanted.

..."German chief engineers may get on a plane to America once or twice, but that’s it. For years German cars didn’t have cupholders because in Germany they said ‘You’re driving, what are you doing drinking soda pop?"

..."VW persisted in believing that “German engineering” was simply in itself enough to make a brand, employing the slogan “Das Auto” to make it language-explicit, even though they proved incapable of making a diesel engine that would meet emission standards."

..."In the end, what’s really damning is not just the “we don’t need to listen to you, America, you need to listen to us” arrogance of VW’s managers, but how long they have persisted in this belief."

[saket77]

New shocking revelation- confidential documents have been presented in US courts showing hand-in-glove involvement of Bosch in the VW emission scandal. It is alleged that being the ECU manufacturer, Bosch had a deep understanding of what regulators would allow and what not.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wor...d_7296921.html

[volkman10]

Fiat under investigation for emission cheating devices.
Germany's Transport Ministry calls for investigating of Fiat Chrysler vehicles for illegal exhaust emissions manipulation devices.

German regulator urges European Commission to examine Fiat 500X, Fiat Doblo and Jeep Renegade models.

the ministry has referred to data collected by the German motor vehicle authority (KBA) that suggests Fiat 500X, Fiat Doblo and Jeep Renegade models could be cheating tests.
During KBA tests, it was reportedly found that some Fiat vehicles were only running their pollution reducing systems for 22 minutes. An official laboratory emissions test runs for about 20 minutes

The tests came as part of a wider European movement for regulators to retest vehicles following Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal.

Source