Volkswagen’s ‘Clean Diesel’ Scandal
“It sounds like the sinister plot of some straight-to-DVD movie,” said Brad Plumer in Vox.com. For years, Volkswagen has been installing elaborate software in millions of its so-called clean diesel cars in order to cheat on emissions tests. When that computer code detected certain steering and pedal movements that suggested a car was being tested in a lab, it turned the vehicle’s pollution controls on. But outside the lab, the cars spewed up to 40 times the legal amount of smog-forming nitrogen oxide, which can contribute to respiratory problems such as asthma and emphysema. When an independent clean transport group spotted a discrepancy between VW’s lab and road results last year, regulators began grilling the automaker’s executives and engineers. After repeated denials, Volkswagen finally admitted this week that “defeat devices” had indeed been installed in its cars. “I am endlessly sorry,” said CEO Martin Winterkorn before resigning. The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered VW to recall all of the 482,000 diesel cars it has sold in the U.S. since 2009, including Golf, Passat, and Jetta models, and to fix the vehicles’ emissions systems. The company also faces up to $18 bil lion in fines under the Clean Air Act, as well as possible criminal charges—news that prompted VW’s stock to plunge 20 per cent in a single day.
“Americans should be outraged by VW’s cynical and deliberate efforts” to violate U.S. law, said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. Clean diesel cars are marketed as offering great mileage and low pollution, but the challenge is that emissions controls degrade a car’s engine more quickly and slow it down, taking away a bit of “the ‘zip’ that VW likes to advertise and that helps sell cars.” It appears that when VW couldn’t get the right mix of speed, fuel economy, and cleanliness, it simply decided to paper over its engineering problems with calculated cheating. Intentionally deceiving regulators and governments “is one of the most serious things any company can do,” said John Gapper in the Financial Times, and this scandal will be devastating for VW’s brand and its bottom line. The company, which this year surpassed Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker, has already set aside more than $7 bil lion, about half a year’s profits, to cover the cost of fixes and fines. Perhaps worse, the cheating has seriously tarnished the reputation of diesel-powered cars, which VW has pushed heavily in the U.S. and which are a cornerstone of its European sales.
Given the lax auto-testing regime in the U.S., “there is a good chance that VW isn’t the sole scofflaw,” said Edward Niedermeyer in BloombergView.com. The EPA gives automakers wide latitude to test their own vehicles for fuel efficiency and emissions compliance, and the agency conducts spot checks on just 10 per cent to 15 per cent of all models. It is, in many ways, “an invitation to corner cutting and outright cheating.” VW has given car shoppers everywhere a wake-up call, said Ezra Dyer in PopularMechanics.com. So next time you see a vehicle advertised as having “great fuel economy, tons of torque, and a bargain price,” just remember: “When something seems a little too good to be true, maybe that’s because it is.”
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