It seems almost unbelievable that the world's biggest carmaker by the measure of volume sold would deliberately deceive by incorporating software that allowed forty percent greater amounts of pollution to escape from the engines of it's diesel cars sold in America. This clever device simply turned off pollution control, except in cases where procedures indicated that a test was being carried out. Amazingly, this has been in place on four cylinder diesel cars sold in the US since 2008.
In the competitive world of carmaking the risk that this deception would be unmasked was huge.Sales live or die by the exacting performance of engines and literally billions of research and development money is spent to try and achieve even the most minor performance uplift in output - and each car brand watches it's competitors closely and tests their promises.
This news bombshell provoked a savage reaction in the car world. The owners of 428,000 VW and Audi four cylinder diesels now know that their vehicles do not meet American pollution standards and it is highly likely that Volkswagen will face court penalties for the deception that may run to as much as $ 18 billion. It remains to be seen how the news affects the resale price of effected cars.
Just like the ripples of a rock thrown into a pond, the aftershock may reverberate through the financial world. Volkswagen was a very profitable company and as such was seen as a prime investment vehicle by all manner of institutions - including pension funds. When the news broke it immediately wiped thirteen billion Euro dollars off the price of Volkswagen shares on the stock exchange - and they are now listed at just 133.70 Euro a share.
Just how this scandal came to be revealed is another interesting unanswered question, and that raises the spectre that this problem may be widespread. Engineering is such an exact science that the Volkswagen claims for their diesel engines may have seemed technically impossible to rival engineers -who may have guessed the secret. In the cut throat world of car manufacturing, it is possible that the credo of " if you can't beat them - join them " applied and others used this same ruse to disguise the true pollution output of their vehicles.
It seems certain that the testing authorities will implement a new serious of tests to winkle out any anomalies that could be attributed to deceptive software across the entire range of cars offering. The fact that the biggest manufacturer stooped to such a practice will not enhance the reputation within the industry that even big names offer buyer protection.
This debacle comes hot on the heels of a litany of known faults that went uncorrected for years, even when road deaths were the result. Car owners were lately swamped with recall notices that applied to most popular brands and models and the industry is still sorting out an air bag malfunction that may sent metal shrapnel into the face of the driver if the bag is deployed in an accident.
All this will not instill confidence in the concept of the driverless car. Putting your faith - and your life - in the hands of a computer will not be enhanced by this sad tale of coverups and chicanery that the industry has resorted to with impunity.
The big question seems to be - what else remains to be discovered ?
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