Volkswagen Group Massive Emissions Fraud Scheme

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Yes, Diesel Locomotives are very dirty especially starting up and this is perfectly acceptable , they don't have to adhere to anything like the standards that cars do. So many diesel locomotives that are decades old still in use.
 
Levenkay said:
This reminds me of the various Star Trek crises where the Enterprise's audio alerts have counted down to a "Fatal radiation exposure in five seconds" warning before the critical shield repair is done and everyone heaves a vast, "Wow, that was close; five more seconds' worth of XYZ rays and we'd have been toast!" sigh of relief and goes back to their cheerful business without needing so much as an aspirin.

In real life, exposure to a small amount of various toxins causes a tiny chance of dying. Exposure to a larger amount causes a small chance of dying. Only the larger amounts of toxins are very noticeable due to more people dying of similar and not usual causes. Like the London Great Smog of 1952 causing at least 4,000 deaths, and probably more like 12,000 deaths. A lot of dead people get noticed. Takes a bit more careful look to see the smaller amounts.
 
WetEV said:
Levenkay said:
This reminds me of the various Star Trek crises where the Enterprise's audio alerts have counted down to a "Fatal radiation exposure in five seconds" warning before the critical shield repair is done and everyone heaves a vast, "Wow, that was close; five more seconds' worth of XYZ rays and we'd have been toast!" sigh of relief and goes back to their cheerful business without needing so much as an aspirin.

In real life, exposure to a small amount of various toxins causes a tiny chance of dying. Exposure to a larger amount causes a small chance of dying. Only the larger amounts of toxins are very noticeable due to more people dying of similar and not usual causes. Like the London Great Smog of 1952 causing at least 4,000 deaths, and probably more like 12,000 deaths. A lot of dead people get noticed. Takes a bit more careful look to see the smaller amounts.
Yes, slow but steady rates only show up statistically, whereas big splashy catastrophes get the news coverage. Far more people die in auto accidents annually than plane crashes, but they do so in much smaller numbers per incident, so it becomes an accepted part of background noise. Same with most exposures to toxins or other health-related causes of death - If there's a dozen cases of Zika reported people go bonkers, but the much larger number of people dying each year from causes related to Type II diabetes (to pick one example at random) don't get wall-to-wall coverage on the nightly news for several news cycles.
 
The below has more details than the earlier Rueters article.

Forbes: Feds Arrest VW Exec -- And Implicate Higher-Ups In Wolfsburg, Too
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2017/01/09/criminal-complaint-against-vw-executive-suggests-broad-conspiracy/

F.B.I. Arrests Volkswagen Executive on Conspiracy Charge in Emissions Scandal:
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-diesel-emissions-investigation-settlement.html?_r=1
 
Via GCC:
Volkswagen AG agrees to plead guilty and pay $4.3B in criminal and civil penalties; 6 execs and employees indicted
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/01/20170111-vw.html

. . . Indictment. Heinz-Jakob Neusser; Jens Hadle; Richard Dorenkamp; Bernd Gottweis; Oliver Schmidt; and Jürgen Peter, all of Germany, are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, defraud VW’s US customers and violate the Clean Air Act by making false representations to regulators and the public about the ability of VW’s supposedly “clean diesel” vehicles to comply with US emissions requirements.

The indictment also charges Dorenkamp, Neusser, Schmidt and Peter with Clean Air Act violations and charges Neusser, Gottweis, Schmidt and Peter with wire fraud counts. This case has been assigned to US District Judge Sean F. Cox of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Schmidt was arrested on 7 Jan. 2017, in Miami during a visit to the United States and appeared in federal court there on Monday. The other defendants are believed to presently reside in Germany.

According to the indictment, the individuals occupied the following positions within the company:

  • Heinz-Jakob Neusser: from July 2013 until September 2015, Neusser worked for VW as head of Development for VW Brand and was also on the management board for VW Brand. From October 2011 until July 2013, Neusser served as the head of Engine Development for VW.

    Jens Hadler: from May 2007 until March 2011, Hadler worked for VW as head of Engine Development for VW.

    Richard Dorenkamp: from 2003 until December 2013, Dorenkamp worked for VW as the head of VW’s Engine Development After-Treatment Department in Wolfsburg, Germany. From 2006 until 2013, Dorenkamp led a team of engineers that developed the first diesel engine that was designed to meet the new, tougher emissions standards in the United States.

    Bernd Gottweis: from 2007 until October 2014, Gottweis worked for VW as a supervisor with responsibility for Quality Management and Product Safety.

    Oliver Schmidt: from 2012 through February 2015, Schmidt was the General Manager in charge of the Environment and Engineering Office, located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. From February 2015 through September 2015, Schmidt returned to VW headquarters to work directly for Neusser, including on emissions issues.

    Jürgen Peter: Peter worked in the VW Quality Management and Product Safety Group from 1990 until the present. From March 2015 until July 2015, Peter was one of the VW liaisons between the regulatory agencies and VW. . . .

. . . When the co-conspirators realized that they could not design a diesel engine that would both meet the stricter NOx emissions standards and attract sufficient customer demand in the US market, they decided they would use a software function to cheat standard US emissions tests. . . .

Disagreements over the direction of the project were articulated at a meeting over which Hadler presided, and which Dorenkamp attended. Hadler authorized Dorenkamp to proceed with the project knowing that only the use of the defeat device software would enable VW diesel vehicles to pass US emissions tests. . . .
 
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-oliver-schmidt.html

Sounds like he's still in the hoosgow. Flight risk (figuratively and literally) since Germany doesn't extradite.
 
Via GCR:
Court orders full reimbursement for VW diesel owner in Germany
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108411_court-orders-full-reimbursement-for-vw-diesel-owner-in-germany

. . . VW "defeat device" software is like putting horse meat in lasagna, three German judges decreed during a recent hearing related to the diesel scandal.

Besides unleashing that vivid image, the hearing was also a major coup for German Volkswagen TDI diesel owners. That's because the judges ordered VW to reimburse a diesel owner for the full purchase price of his car, according to Bloomberg. Germany does not allow class-action lawsuits, so diesel owners seeking compensation must sue the company individually, which presents a major obstacle to obtaining that compensation. . . .

German law also requires the loser of a case to pay all court fees, another impediment as it can pose a significant financial impact for individual plaintiffs. But it's possible that this court decision may set a precedent for future diesel lawsuits by owners against Volkswagen.

The court ordered VW to buy back a Skoda Yeti—a utility model sold by the automaker's Czech value brand—and pay the owner 26,500 euros ($28,300). Volkswagen intentionally committed fraud, the court said in a statement, suggesting that use of "defeat device" software was known throughout the company's ranks. . . .
 
GRA said:
Via GCR:
Court orders full reimbursement for VW diesel owner in Germany
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108411_court-orders-full-reimbursement-for-vw-diesel-owner-in-germany

. . . VW "defeat device" software is like putting horse meat in lasagna, three German judges decreed during a recent hearing related to the diesel scandal.

Besides unleashing that vivid image, the hearing was also a major coup for German Volkswagen TDI diesel owners. That's because the judges ordered VW to reimburse a diesel owner for the full purchase price of his car, according to Bloomberg. Germany does not allow class-action lawsuits, so diesel owners seeking compensation must sue the company individually, which presents a major obstacle to obtaining that compensation. . . .

German law also requires the loser of a case to pay all court fees, another impediment as it can pose a significant financial impact for individual plaintiffs. But it's possible that this court decision may set a precedent for future diesel lawsuits by owners against Volkswagen.

The court ordered VW to buy back a Skoda Yeti—a utility model sold by the automaker's Czech value brand—and pay the owner 26,500 euros ($28,300). Volkswagen intentionally committed fraud, the court said in a statement, suggesting that use of "defeat device" software was known throughout the company's ranks. . . .

I wish we had a law like that in the US. Maybe not quite as strict, but a lost lawsuit should automatically be turned into an evaluation for a "frivolous" lawsuit. In which case, the loser has to pay court fees.
 
Where do VW diesels go to die?

Photos and video at the link answer the question...

...At the moment hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen TDIs are currently in limbo, as VW waits to see if they can get the EPA and California Air Resources Board to approve fixes for the cheating cars, or if the company will be forced to send the vehicles to the salvage yard.

This means VW has to find purgatories for its 400,000+ cars, so I asked a company spokesperson where those locations might be. VW’s response was simply:

Once a buyback transaction is complete, Volkswagen will remove the vehicle from the dealership and store it at a regional facility. These vehicles will be held until it is determined whether an approved emissions modification becomes available.


After a bit of hunting on forums, and a couple of tips from readers and friends, I seem to have found three such “regional facilities”: one in Pontiac, Michigan; one in San Bernardino, California; and one in Baltimore, Maryland...
http://jalopnik.com/volkswagen-stashed-hundreds-of-cheating-diesels-in-an-a-1791535662
 
I believe that the precedent being set can be of value to the VW owners in Germany. Secondarily for them, the same lawyers that successfully won the first case could take on additional clients, having the first client under their belt.
 
German Prosecutors Add Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn To List Of 37 Dieselgate Suspects
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bertelschmitt/2017/01/27/german-prosecutors-add-former-vw-ceo-martin-winterkorn-to-list-of-37-dieselgate-suspects/

Volkswagen: 'New Dimension Of A Cheater Scandal" Unfolds
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bertelschmitt/2017/01/28/volkswagen-new-dimension-of-a-cheater-scandal-unfolds
 
This cannot be right.
VW told us it was all the actions of one, maybe a couple, rogue engineers who are at fault.

:lol:
 
This fraud has almost nothing to do with VolksWagen. It's the NEDC cycle EU uses that is absurd.
All readings (including CO2 and all other pollutants) are drawn from there.
But this cycle doesn't represent real life, not even close. Therefore all manufacturers who ever tested
their vehicles under NEDC cycle are... literally... stating incorrect values for emissions. Not just VW.
Even Tesla. Luckily they have no direct emissions. But there are emission if charged on dirty juice.

VW has a special case that in addition to what I just said, they made another modification.
But it doesn't really matter as everything is already in a deep s**t for years. Decade and something...
In short: on average, emissions are 7x off. With VW Dieselgate they were 40x off. Does it matter? No.
 
arnis said:
This fraud has almost nothing to do with VolksWagen. ... ...
In short: on average, emissions are 7x off. With VW Dieselgate they were 40x off. Does it matter?.
Is 40x equal to 7x ?
Were cheat devices found on the other cars ?

This all sounds like VW to me.
 
There are no devices on VW's as well. It is just software algorithm that changes engine behavior.

Do you see a difference between a killer who kills 7 babies per day and killer who kills 40 babies per day?
Now from there on. Do you understand the difference if I tell you that that one who kills 40 babies per day
actually is a doctor who injects lethal dose of sedative to all babies who are born with fatal defect that will torture
them for few weeks and then they will die. And the one that kills 7 babies does that because he just wants.

Regular people can't see and understand the real picture from far away. They stick their noses into shallow click-bait headlines,
get 300-500 bytes of information and then conclude everything from there, plus suppose everything they read was true.
This is how humans work. They need emotions and illusions that they "do the right thing". And we get those from click-baits,
that have just few paragraphs of black-and white information even a donkey can understand.

It is selfish what VW did but if we zoom out to well-to-wheel overall pollution then actually it was sensible decision,
just not legal. But law is just a law. Sometimes it is reasonable and necessary, sometimes it is not competent (Tesla not allowed
to sell directly, it is not ok to have an abortion, it is illegal to kill killers, must not kill cows because they are sacred etc).

The whole idea of you knowing what VW did is exactly what media wanted. What other manufacturers wanted.
And the fact that people never dig deep enough by default (they have life to live not to research what somebody did and why)
is just helping that. But I am disappointed that judges are shallow. That they "just read the instructions (aka laws)" and don't
even bother to understand them.

Like you. You understand that VW was 40x over the limit. But what kind of limit is that and why it is what it is.
Can you translate it to ppm? Can you translate it to real results. Do you know what everybody else is doing
to fit into that limit? I do, and it's sad. Sad because the whole point of the limit is... violated... legally.


True world is never black and white.
 
arnis said:
Regular people can't see and understand the real picture from far away. They stick their noses into shallow click-bait headlines,
get 300-500 bytes of information and then conclude everything from there, plus suppose everything they read was true.
This is how humans work. They need emotions and illusions that they "do the right thing". And we get those from click-baits,
that have just few paragraphs of black-and white information even a donkey can understand.


arnis said:
sometimes it is not competent (Tesla not allowed
to sell directly, it is not ok to have an abortion, it is illegal to kill killers, must not kill cows because they are sacred etc).

Congratulations. You just proved that you are no exception to your rule on human nature.
 
Via GCR:
VW pleads guilty to felonies in diesel emission scandal
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109315_vw-pleads-guilty-to-felonies-in-diesel-emission-scandal

On Friday, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three criminal charges related to its use of illegal "defeat device" software in diesel cars to cheat on emissions tests. Entry of the plea is the latest step toward resolving the criminal aspect of Volkswagen's diesel scandal in the U.S. A settlement between VW and the U.S. Justice Department was announced just under two months ago, calling for the automaker to plead guilty, pay $2.8 billion in criminal fines, and $1.45 billion in civil fines.

In Detroit, attorneys for both Volkswagen and the government asked U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox to accept the guilty plea, and immediately sentence the carmaker, according to The Detroit News. But Cox said he would hold off sentencing—and with it, the final determination of fines—until April 21 because the offense was "very, very serious." Before issuing a sentencing decision, Cox is expected to consider an objection filed by an attorney for 300 affected VW diesel owners. . . .
 
Via ABG:
German prosecutors raid VW, Audi offices
Homes of Audi executives searched as well.
http://www.autoblog.com/2017/03/15/german-prosecutors-raid-vw-audi-offices/

. . . Prosecutors have searched Volkswagen's Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters, as well as Audi offices in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm and even the homes of some Audi executives, Reuters reports.

The raids, which coincided with Audi's annual earnings press conference, are related to 80,000 diesel vehicles with possible emissions cheat devices sold in the US between 2009 and 2015. European vehicles aren't part of this particular investigation. . . .

A related story, also via ABG:
Renault accused of 25 years of emissions cheating by French authorities
http://www.autoblog.com/2017/03/15/renault-emissions-cheat-claim-report/

Renault is facing some disconcerting news. The French anti-fraud agency DGCCRF says there are indications that the carmaker has falsified automotive emission test data – for the last 25 years. A French daily newspaper, Libération has published portions of the agency's report, which claims that Renault has, like Volkswagen, used a cheat device to modify the NOx emissions of its (diesel) vehicles.

Renault's problems stretch back much further than the Volkswagen scheme. The report says that the company's top brass, including CEO Carlos Ghosn, knew of the emissions falsifying the entire time, according to Deutsche Welle. . . .
 
Via GCR:
Modified European VW diesels 'undrivable,' say some owners
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109625_modified-european-vw-diesels-undrivable-say-some-owners

. . . some U.K. customers have had their cars updated, and they claim the results are not acceptable. . . .

According to a piece on the Honest John site, backed up by a recent article in The Guardian newspaper by an actual TDI owner, some owners in the U.K. feel their modified Volkswagen Tiguan TDIs are simply "undrivable."

About 1.2 million Volkswagen, Audi, and Skoda vehicles in the U.K. are subject to the recall, but it's voluntary, and there are no government penalties for not having it done. With reports of drivability problems on owner forums and in the media rising fast, according to the articles, many owners who've not yet had the updates are now questioning whether they should.

The Guardian was contacted by James Harrison, owner of a 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI with the European-spec 1.6-liter turbodiesel engine. . . Harrison claims the car ... has become almost undriveable since the work was done.

“The car has begun to stall intermittently, and is difficult to restart. It used to go into ‘regeneration mode’ [whereby soot collected in a filter is burnt off at high temperature to leave only a tiny ash residue] a few times a year, but now does it on almost every journey.

"This is my wife’s car and is used to transport our two children. As far as I can see they have ruined a perfectly working car.”

Thus far, modifications have been approved in the U.S. for only one set of 2.0-liter 4-cylinder VW Group diesels: the 67,000 cars sold during the 2015 model year, which were fitted with the new EA288 diesel engine.

No reports of how those cars behave after the modifications have emerged, although EPA documents indicate that fuel economy and performance are expected to be unaffected. . . .
 
With Trump's rolling back the federal emission regulations, are all those VW diesels that VW has been buying back now perfectly legal to own and drive here in the U.S.? Of course, not in California, but elsewhere in the U.S., these might no longer be an issue from a legal point. From an environmental point, they are still a disaster. But VW was likely to ship them to overseas markets with less stringent rules, so the solution was really to relocate the polluter to another area, which isn't really a solution.
 
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