Wait, I thought Bosch had a paper trail that told Volkswagen: "Here, we developed this software to your specifications, but it would be illegal if you actually use it for anything other than research purposes."?
Wait, I thought Bosch had a paper trail that told Volkswagen: "Here, we developed this software to your specifications, but it would be illegal if you actually use it for anything other than research purposes."?
Wait, I thought Bosch had a paper trail that told Volkswagen: "Here, we developed this software to your specifications, but it would be illegal if you actually use it for anything other than research purposes."?
I don't think that analogy fits. I see it as more like the car dealer selling someone a car, with disclaimer that it should not be used as a getaway vehicle in a bank robbery. Is the car dealer responsible if the new owner does that anyway?The getaway driver didn't rob the bank but still gets charged!
Wait, I thought Bosch had a paper trail that told Volkswagen: "Here, we developed this software to your specifications, but it would be illegal if you actually use it for anything other than research purposes."?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bertels...winterkorn-under-volkswagen-bus/#6c746d5c1ae3Report: Piech Throws Winterkorn Under Volkswagen Bus
“The noose tightens” for Volkswagen’s deposed CEO Martin Winterkorn, wrote Germany’s Welt: Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen’s powerful patriarch, testified against his former protégé Martin Winterkorn.
Audi Engineer Had Smoking Dieselgate Gun In His Safe, Pulls It In Court
Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters Volkswagen is about to sell diesel vehicles for the first time in the US since its emission scandal broke in 2015. The automaker has received the EPA's blessing to sell 2015 diesel models that have been updated with new hardware and anti-pollution software, VW spokesperson Jeannine Ginivan told Bloomberg.
The EPA's nod is mainly symbolic, as it only applies to 67,000 diesels from 2015, of which just 12,000 remain on dealer lots. As such, it'll have approximately zero impact on the $24 billion VW has put aside to pay for the scandal. Around 475,000 VW cars were affected by "Dieselgate," though it could have been a lot worse if diesels were more popular in the US -- around 97 percent of US cars are gas-powered.
Volkswagen will not sell new diesel vehicles in the US until at least 2018, and possibly not even after that. It made a pivot to electric cars instead, promising to build multiple EV models in the US starting in 2021. While that will be better for the planet, the change will cost up to 30,000 jobs, mostly through robotic automation in its plants.
Volkswagen's agreement with the EPA will eventually include 2015 models that it repurchased from owners in a settlement last year, Bloomberg notes. Of the 475,000 owners affected, 340,000 elected to take a buyback of between $12,500 and $44,000, depending on the model. The remaining buyers elected to keep their cars and have them fixed by VW in exchange for a payment as high as $10,000.
Cars eligible for the fix and resale include 67,000 2015 TDI Jetta, Golf, Audi A3, Beetle and others with the third-gen 2.0 liter TDI diesel engine. VW will soon reveal whether earlier 2.0 TDI models with first- and second-gen motors can be fixed. As for the 3.0 liter TDI engines on the VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne and other larger models, Volkswagen is buying back all pre-2012 versions because they can't be fixed, and will announce terms of a settlement with owners of 2013 and newer models later this year.
Well I wish them good luck with that. We all know what a mess the software "fix" has made of the cars over here in Europe. If anyone looking for a VW has more than 2 brain cells they won't touch any of the "fixed" diesels with a barge pole! Even if it's a different software fix in NAR, would anyone really be that brave (stupid) as to trust it?The automaker has received the EPA's blessing to sell 2015 diesel models that have been updated with new hardware and anti-pollution software
Well I wish them good luck with that. We all know what a mess the software "fix" has made of the cars over here in Europe. If anyone looking for a VW has more than 2 brain cells they won't touch any of the "fixed" diesels with a barge pole! Even if it's a different software fix in NAR, would anyone really be that brave (stupid) as to trust it?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-...tion-software-fix-for-dieselgate-cars/8418142VW's software fix for dieselgate cars causing performance, fuel efficiency problems, drivers say
I wonder why any media outlet bothers quoting spokespeople from VAG anymore. We all know they lie through their teethAn Audi spokeswoman also said it had confidence in the software fix.
"Our customer service team have not received any negative feedback from customers who have had the technical measure applied to their vehicle," she said in a statement to the ABC.
Volkswagen denied a media report that said Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn was to be replaced amid an emissions scandal that has rocked the company.
"Nonsense," a spokesman at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg said on Tuesday when asked whether the report by German Tagesspiegel was true.
U.S. judge sentences Volkswagen to three years probation, oversight
By Nick Carey
Reuters
April 21, 2017
DETROIT (Reuters) - A federal judge in Detroit on Friday sentenced Volkswagen AG to three years' probation and independent oversight for the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal as part of a $4.3 billion settlement announced in January.
The plea agreement called for "organization probation" in which the company would be overseen by an independent monitor.
The sentencing was one of the last major hurdles to VW moving past a scandal that led to the ouster of its chief executive and tarnished the company's reputation worldwide.
"This is a case of deliberate and massive fraud," U.S. District Judge Sean Cox said in approving the settlement that required the automaker to make significant reforms. He also formally approved a $2.8 billion criminal fine as part of the sentence.
As well as accepting the agreement reached between VW and the U.S. government, Cox rejected separate calls from lawyers representing individual VW customers for restitution.
The German automaker pleaded guilty in March to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements after admitting to installing secret software in 580,000 U.S. vehicles.
Since the September 2015 disclosure that VW intentionally cheated on emissions tests for at least six years, the company has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and to make buy-back offers.
Speaking on behalf of Volkswagen, general counsel Manfred Doess said the company "deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to this case. Plain and simple, it was wrong," he said.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday it had selected former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson to serve as the company's independent monitor.
In a statement New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, who oversees investments in Volkswagen on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, said VW's "scheme was deceitful." "Today’s massive fine underscores the extent of the fraud and the need for change at the company."
The U.S. Justice Department has charged seven current and former VW executives with crimes related to the scandal. One executive is in custody and awaiting trial and another pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. U.S. prosecutors said in January that five of the seven are believed to be in Germany. They have not been arraigned.
German prosecutors also are conducting a criminal probe of VW's excess diesel emissions.
"We have worked tirelessly to address the misconduct that took place within our company and make things right for our affected customers," the company said in a statement on Friday. "Volkswagen today is not the same company it was 19 months ago."
(Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Dan Grebler and Andrew Hay)
Judge approves emissions-cheating settlement for 3-liter VWs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO
May 11, 2017, 4:47 PM ET
A federal judge in San Francisco has approved a $1.2 billion settlement with owners of 88,500 Volkswagens with 3-liter diesel engines rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer gave the deal final approval during a hearing Thursday. The deal ends most of the litigation over VW's cheating scandal, which became public in 2015.
Owners of 3-liter models from 2009-2012 that can't be fixed to meet pollution standards will be offered buybacks. They also will get compensation ranging from $7,755 to $13,880.
Those who own newer cars will get compensation of $7,039 to $16,114. If VW can't fix the newer cars, then the owners' attorneys can return to court to seek buybacks. That could push the value of the settlement to $4 billion.
VW previously agreed to spend up to $10 billion compensating owners of roughly 475,000 Volkswagens and Audi vehicles with 2-liter diesel engines — the bulk of the vehicles caught up in Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal.
"These agreements accomplish our goal of making the consumers harmed by Volkswagen's emissions deception whole, while repairing or removing illegally polluting vehicles from our roads," Elizabeth Cabraser, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, said in a statement.
The payments are available only to Porsche, VW and Audi owners who take part in the class-action lawsuit settlement, Cabraser said.
Breyer also approved a $327.5 million settlement with Bosch, which supplied the software in the cheating engines. Under that deal, 3-Liter diesel owners will get up to $1,500 in compensation, while 2-liter owners will get $350.
Owners can go to www.VWCourtSettlement.com and www.BoschVWSettlement.com for details on the agreements and how to apply for the benefits.
Volkswagen has now settled most U.S. consumer claims stemming from the emissions scandal and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle a U.S. criminal investigation.
The company has acknowledged that the cars were programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn off the controls while on the road. They emitted up to 40 times the legal limit for harmful nitrogen oxide. Some 11 million cars worldwide have the deceptive software.
"Cycle Beating" is not new and is VW is certainly not the only company that engages in it.
Feeling defensive somehow, Art?As a clarification, the engines involved are Fiat-sourced "Eco" diesel lumps, installed in less-than-mighty Dodge/Jeep applications. The Mighty Dodge's American-built Cummins engine is not part of this cheating accusation.....
Feeling defensive somehow, Art?
The Mighty Dodge's American-built Cummins engine is not part of this cheating accusation.....yet