When we said that the effects of Volkswagen’s diesel cheat scandal were gonna be huge, we weren’t kidding, we weren’t exaggerating, we weren’t even hyping it up. Unlike other recalls, where faults are found after the car was sold due to whatever reason, Volkswagen actively lied and deliberately chose to break the law. Any doubt that there would be severe and long-term results from such a move was erased when VW stock sank like the Titanic almost overnight. With lawsuits flowing in like a river, the EPA taking authoritarian oversight, and numerous governments investigating, one would have to wonder just how much harder VW is going to get kicked while on the ground.
Well, if we are going to stick with the street brawl analogs, this is the curb stomp. The Dow Jones…you know, the group behind that number on the news that tells us whether the economy is worth mentioning or fearing…just de-listed the Volkswagen Group from the Sustainability Index, according to Autoblog. The Sustainability Index “is meant to track the top 10 percent of companies that are considered leaders environmentally and socially in each industry among the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index”. In other words, if your company is on that list, you are beyond somebody, you are a leader. You are productive and successful while being environmentally sound and socially responsible. And to put it mildly, the Volkswagen Group undermined just about every principle of that position.
What does this mean? First and foremost, VW Group just lost the title of Group Leader in “Automobiles and Components”. That alone is a huge blow, but what’s worse is the effect that this will have on stock prices, which are still sinking like a torpedoed ship. This is the kind of loss that will take decades to recover from, mostly because this is a reputation and action honor, and Volkswagen is running short on both at the moment.
Darned shame. EPA says auto emmisions should be “X”, writes regulation, with the power of law, and punative consequences, with no accountability of real oversight. VW plays the game the way any other racer or car/motorcycle person would. Creative inturpretation of the rules. Busted. If I were buying a car today, it’d be a VW. I like their creative thinking on this, and their “screw the government” attitude. Besides, who’s to say the EPA’s standards are correct, true, or even (and least likely), just?
The government told us for over 50 years, cholesterol in egg yokes were very bad for us. Last year came a very sheepish, “Oh, that, yeah, nevermind”. Most recently the EPA has been found to concealing damning data and helath and safety information on those horrible little CFL light bulbs that were supposed to protect us from incandescent bulbs. They’ve been caught cooking climate data to advance the climate nazis position for years, etc, etc, etc.
I personally would like to see all the auto manufacturers rise up against the EPA, and other nation’s organizations like it, and tell them to shove it, we’ll figure out the best solution. Because private industry always does a better job of it than government.
We’ll put Gary!
Well put Gary, I’m also fed up with this bloated government over regulating private companies, the EPA needs to be dismantled.
75Duster: let me get this straight, you want 0 (zero) regulation over what corporations do? Do you honestly think corporations are perfect and altruistic? Whatever you’re drinking, I hope it’s tasty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0
staggered by the responses above….company gets caught lying and cheating, people have probably died as a result of the extra pollution, and you want to pat them on the back for it because ` screw the government’? Really? Yeh, best of luck , watch them go down the gurgler like they deserve to.
one other thing to consider here… this isn’t just the USA… yes, the EPA started it but there isn’t a country in the world that supports VW in what they did…look outside of your own country guys…can somebody out of you guys tell me why you are taking VW’s side in this? I mean, a reason OTHER than we don’t like the EPA ?
How about “They are a solid company that EMPLOYS many thousands across the globe with a livable wage”?
People have probably died as a result of the extra pollution. How’s that Kool-Aid taste there buddy?
so they employ people so its OK for them to lie and cheat…what a fucked up argument.
And what the fuck has kool aid got to do with anything?? Wipe your mouth. You’re dribbling shit.
The drug business employs millions of people world wide, the guys running it got at cool “fuck the government attitude”. Next time you see a drug dealer… give him a pat on the back.
Seriously… the cleaner modern daily drivers get, the smaller the risk of governments turning their attention towards hot rods, muscle cars etc.
well said.
Just drove thru L.A. a couple weeks ago…hundred-degree weather, but sky so clear you could see across the whole basin. When I was a kid, say 1970, the smog would’ve been murderous on a day like that, you could see the stuff hang there even between one traffic light and the next, with the mountains a few miles away just a fog. Me, I had asthma in those days as well and remember once not being sure I could even make it home as I’d spent the morning on my bike going down hills and now had uphill to look at…and all that smog. In 2015 I can’t say I like government intrusion into industry more than anyone else, but there is a serious benefit in policies that consider the health of the masses vs. the profits of a few. As long as it keeps a level playing field for all, net jobs will not be affected.
While I have to admire/snicker at the creativity and demonstrating that the EPA can be fooled, VW cheated to gain a competitive advantage over other manufacturers who are also trying to sell cars. They are on no moral high ground. Now they’ve been caught, it’s just a good day to not be VW.
Thanks for speaking truth. Regulation is imperfect – but there’s no alternative. Those who think government regulation must end clearly don’t understand how the world works.
I seriously do not get where some of you are coming from with this… A German company that, 5 minutes ago none of you would have given a shit about, deliberately lies so that they can sell cars to Americans. They get found out, not actually by the EPA but by independent research – but because for some weird reason you hate an organisation designed to help protect your air quality you are now siding with VW as they go down the gurgler….
It’s the internet.
I gave a couple of reasons why the EPA is not the last word in what is toxic or not. The massive, unaccountable federal agency has been caught lying and cooking information for decades. That is the issue. Like global warming, so full of lies and fraudulent claims. I don’t hate all government, and I doubt very many do. But I do hate an agency that states its going to destroy the coal industry to force us to use cleaner energy, whatever that is, even though its going to cost us 5 times as much. The issue isn’t the ideal or goal of cleaner cars. The issue is a massive, overbearing and extremely corrupt agency. How do you fight a currupt agency? Corruptly. As I said, good on VW!
The fucking EPA didn’t uncover this!!!!! Independent researchers found it!!!! Jesus get your head out of the sand FFS.
Bravo VW… I hope tthere’s more that give the finger to overreaching regulation.
“People have probably died because of the pollution”
I don’t suppose you have a shred of data to support this. Anything might happen of course, that’s how the government fearmongers the weak minded into accepting whatever handcuffs they’re about to slip on the public next.
I did read something along those lines recently, can’t think where. I’m not going to go trolling for it to keep you happy, bud. And as for government fearmongers? You do know that this whole thing came about through independent researchers, don’t you? It wasn’t the big bad government, OK? Jesus, get yourself a mirror if you want to see weakminded….
Unlike the anti establishment, anti government anarchists here, old Crusty hopes Volkswagen pays dearly for their arrogant hypocritical bullshit. Stupid arrogant jerks likely thought the rest of the world was too stupid to catch their fraud.
At least the drug lords of the world don’t peddle a fake image like these clowns did. F you VW, enjoy the long, long road back to being considered trust worthy.
The EPA is not blameless here. The Feds have been winding down emissions criteria at a rate that cannot be matched by engineering. Just because something can be regulated so, does not mean that it can be made so. The Feds could pass a law that says a 3/8 bolt must be as strong as a 3/4 bolt made from the same grade of steel and by the same processes. It could possibly be even tested to show similar strength, under the right conditions. But it still won’t be as strong.
This is the real story here. The Feds overreached, but the story is largely being written by people who wouldn’t know a crankshaft from a camshaft if you beat their Prius with one.
Personally, I’d like to see VW dig in their heels and put the blame on the real culprits, who all live and work in DC.
Volkswagen willfully circumvented emissions regulations not just in the US, but all over the world. The US gave Volkswagen tax incentives for these supposedly ‘clean’ diesels, and the taxpayers got cheated by a corporation that lied for profit. To those of you defending Volkswagen, do the US a favor, move to Germany. You’re no better than the liars who cheated US consumers and taxpayers out of millions of dollars by selling substandard polluting vehicles.
The EPA is by no means flawless, but don’t think for 1 minute that a big corporation will voluntarily stop polluting without an EPA to keep them in check. I’m glad the EPA exists, as a kid who grew up in the 70’s breathing polluted air, and living in a city where a polluted river caught on fire, twice.
Germany has a history of liars, that’s what started WWII. My relatives fought in Germany during WWII, and the last thing they wanted to see when they came home was a German car in someone’s driveway. There was a stigma towards German products for many years after the war, and rightly so. Those soldiers fought to make sure none of us would be speaking German right now, and taking the side of the Germans in lieu of current events is un-American.
To the few ignorant people backing up VW: I’m not a tree hugging hippy but you need to get out of your trailer and look around. The earth wasn’t put here to serve us. It’s not going to put up with everything and still be here supporting us. Diesel VWs get great gas mileage, ok, they burn less of a non renewable resource, but at the same time they’re emitting tons of nitrogen oxide. They call this a greenhouse gas for a reason. You ever walk into a greenhouse? Know how hot they get? Well, welcome to earth! The gases being emitted are causing the earth to heat up at an accelerated rate. The ice caps at the pole? They reflect radiation from the sun. Now that we’re heating it up the ice is melting into a dark ocean. The dark ocean is absorbing more radiation and heating up at an accelerated rate. The EPA is trying to soften the blow we’re putting on earth, no they’re not saints, they’re people. Not just the earth around murica, EARTH, the place that is supporting our lives!! Why you think there’s such a drive checking out other planets? We’ve screwed the pooch on this one son! I’m not a saint either, I’m driving a 5.3L V8 swapped S10 blazer, but I’ve made sure it’s emissions legal. Enjoy your coffee..