Volkswagen's huge diesel emissions scandal: the full story
Volkswagen — which just recently became the largest automaker in the world — has become embroiled in a scandal that could cost it billions of dollars. The EPA revealed in September that special software in some 11 million diesel-powered vehicles was designed to defeat emissions testing, making the cars seem far cleaner and safer for the environment than they actually were.
The scandal has already cost Volkswagen its CEO, and as the investigation spreads to new countries and government agencies, it could have huge implications for the company's future — and for the auto industry as a whole.
Major Updates
- Volkswagen wants to have 30 new electric models on the road by 2025
- Volkswagen seriously made a PowerPoint presentation on how to cheat emissions tests
- Volkswagen decides against a promised April update on Dieselgate investigation
- Volkswagen agrees with US regulators to offer 'substantial compensation' to Dieselgate owners
- Volkswagen USA CEO Michael Horn is out in wake of diesel scandal
- Watch a diesel scandal protester storm the stage at Volkswagen's press conference
- California Air Resources Board rejects VW's proposal for fixing cheating diesel engines
- VW Europe will start fixing its emissions-cheating engines next month
- Volkswagen posts video showing how it will fix its cheating diesel engines in Europe
- Another Volkswagen diesel engine is cheating emissions tests, EPA claims
- Volkswagen CEO says diesel emissions fixes will start in January
- New Volkswagen CEO halts non-essential investment to get ready for massive diesel recall
- Volkswagen's new CEO is Porsche chief Matthias Müller
- EPA warns all automakers that it's 'stepping up' emissions testing in wake of VW scandal
- VW CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns in face of growing emissions scandal
- Volkswagen says emissions scandal affects 11 million vehicles worldwide
- VW chairman apologizes for diesel emissions manipulation that could cost billions
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Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn under investigation by German authorities
Former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn ceded the throne pretty quickly after the company's diesel emissions cheating scandal broke last year, but that doesn't mean he's out of the woods. Just the opposite, in fact: prosecutors in Germany are now investigating Winterkorn at the request of BaFin, the nation's financial regulator.
The investigation isn't directly related to the cheating itself, which saw millions of diesel-equipped vehicles fitted with software designed to evade emissions...
Not out of the woods yet -
Volkswagen wants to have 30 new electric models on the road by 2025
Announcing the company's new official strategy today, Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller says that he wants to "rectify shortcomings and establish a corporate culture that is open, value-driven and rooted in integrity." To do that, VW plans to launch some 30 battery-powered electric vehicles over the next ten years, which the automaker says will account for 20 to 25 percent of its sales volume — two to three million units by 2025.
The announcement is not a surprise: for months, Müller has been...
Probably a wise move -
Volkswagen seriously made a PowerPoint presentation on how to cheat emissions tests
Volkswagen held an internal presentation in 2006 explaining how to evade US diesel emissions testing, according to a New York Times report today. The report cites two individuals who've seen the presentation — an actual PowerPoint file — which has been uncovered in the course of the ongoing investigation into the scandal. Dieselgate, as it's been called, has already felled numerous executives and threatens to cost Volkswagen tens of billions of dollars.
The presentation was reportedly...
There goes the plausible deniability -
Volkswagen just killed its most exciting car
Maybe you're into the Budd-e. Maybe you're excited about the new Tiguan crossover. Maybe you just like a good, sensible family sedan like the Passat.
I want none of those things. I just wanted the Golf R 400, and Dieselgate has taken it away from me.
As a refresher, the R 400 was the most insane variant of the iconic hot hatch, featuring a 2-liter, 395-horsepower engine derived from Volkswagen's rally racing program. It promised 0-60 in under 4 seconds and an array of design features that...
Sweet dreams, Golf R 400 -
Fiat could be cheating on diesel emissions, too
Bild am Sonntag reports that German regulators are investigating the emissions of a Fiat model equipped with a diesel engine on suspicion that it may be evading emissions tests.
The news comes as Volkswagen is just starting to deal with the fallout of the massive, global diesel emissions cheating scandal that threatens tens of billions of dollars' worth of the company's revenues and cash reserves. But the alleged Fiat cheat looks a little different: whereas VW is said to have used a...
Was VW only the beginning? -
Volkswagen decides against a promised April update on Dieselgate investigation
Citing "unacceptable risks," Volkswagen has pulled out of a plan to provide an update into its diesel emissions scandal investigation in late April. "This decision is based on the assessment of the U.S. law firms retained by Volkswagen (Sullivan & Cromwell and Jones Day), which have both strongly advised against such a disclosure independently of each other," the company says in a statement released today.
The news comes amidst VW's delayed 2015 earnings announcement, where the company...
But it sets aside $18.2 billion to pay for it -
Volkswagen agrees with US regulators to offer 'substantial compensation' to Dieselgate owners
Volkswagen has reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice, regulatory agencies, and attorneys for compensating owners of vehicles affected by the diesel emissions cheating scandal that first came to light late last year. An agreement was originally expected on March 24th, but both regulators and VW asked for more time and were given until today.
Specific numbers haven't been released, but the agreement will give vehicle owners the option of a buyback or a fix, AP reports. In the...
VW will spend billions to fix this -
US Volkswagen owners affected by Dieselgate could get $5,000 checks
A settlement between Volkswagen and US regulators could be coming soon, after a judge gave the two sides more time to hammer out an agreement. The two sides have until April 21st — tomorrow — to come to an agreement, and German newspaper Die Welt says a deal has been made.
The settlement would include giving $5,000 to affected US owners, a nearly $3 billion payout, with other conditions likely applied. No details on a timeline or whether the cars would be fixed have been shared. More details...
But will it be enough? -
Volkswagen used codewords to conceal diesel emissions cheating
Internal communications at Volkswagen used "dozens" of codewords to obfuscate the use of cheat software to make its diesel engines look cleaner than they actually were, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the ongoing investigation. One such codeword was "acoustic software," which seems about as far as possible from a program designed to evade standards testing by detecting testing conditions and altering engine settings to feign compliance. The report also cites obsolete computers...
Acoustic software -
FTC sues Volkswagen over 'Clean Diesel' advertising
The US Government is suing Volkswagen for false advertising as a result of VW misrepresenting the cleanliness of its diesel-powered cars in numerous advertisements over the past eight years.
This lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California by the US Federal Trade Commission, states that Volkswagen's advertising claimed its "Clean Diesel" vehicles had low emissions, were environmentally friendly, and retained a high resale value. Now, we know that none of those...
it was false advertising -
Volkswagen and US government given more time to hammer out diesel settlement
Volkswagen and a handful of US regulatory agencies have been given more time to work out a settlement agreement addressing the hundreds of thousands of cars affected by VW's diesel emissions scandal, reports Reuters.
A federal judge extended a settlement deadline from March 24th to April 21st, giving Volkswagen and the US Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Air Resources Board more time to negotiate.
The companies and regulators told the judge that...
let's talk more tomorrow -
In wake of diesel scandal, Porsche gives its employees record bonuses
Porsche just announced that 15,600 of its employees will receive a record annual bonus of €8,911 ("911" as in "Porsche 911," get it?) for the past year. That works out to about $9,885 — €311 more than employees received last year, which company chairman Oliver Blume says is thanks due to "achieving such an exceptional result in what is by no means an easy environment."
It's almost as if Dieselgate didn't exist.
Porsche's corporate parent is Volkswagen Group, which is just beginning to deal...
Maybe a little tone-deaf -
Volkswagen faces $3.7 billion investor lawsuit over diesel emissions scandal
Volkswagen is facing a €3.3 billion ($3.7 billion) lawsuit from investors who claim that the German automaker took too long to disclose information about its diesel emissions scandal. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Braunschweig Regional Court, Bloomberg reports, marking the steepest legal challenge that VW has faced in Germany since news of the scandal first broke.
Lawyer Andreas Tilp, who filed the suit on behalf of 278 institutional investors, tells Bloomberg that legal action was...
The fallout continues -
Fired employee says Volkswagen deleted data about emissions scandal
A former Volkswagen employee says the company destroyed documents that were required to be preserved because of an EPA lawsuit, reports the Courthouse News Service.
The allegation comes in a wrongful termination lawsuit against Volkswagen filed earlier this month by Daniel Donovan, a former Electronic Discovery Manager in Volkswagen's Office of General Counsel. Donovan says he refused to take part in actions by the company's IT department to limit access to Volkswagen files following the EPA...
Alleges wrongful termination -
Volkswagen USA CEO Michael Horn is out in wake of diesel scandal
Volkswagen just announced that Michael Horn, the company's top executive in the US, is leaving the company effective immediately. In his place, VW USA Chairman Hinrich Woebcken will take over the CEO job on an interim basis.
The company is clear to note that Horn is leaving "to pursue other opportunities," but it's hard to ignore his presence in the wake of the diesel emissions cheating scandal that has rocked Volkswagen over the last half year. His boss, Volkswagen brand CEO Herbert Diess,...
He's pursuing other opportunities -
Watch a diesel scandal protester storm the stage at Volkswagen's press conference
Dieselgate is still hurting Volkswagen, and as time goes on, the symptoms are getting stranger. A random guy wearing a Volkswagen uniform got on stage during the German auto giant's Geneva Motor Show press conference Tuesday, carrying a "cheat box" prop that he placed underneath the Up! compact that was in the middle of being presented. The exchange that followed between the man and Volkswagen's passenger car chief Juergen Stackmann — who was on stage at the time — is kind of amazing:
No one is going to find out about this one! -
EPA reportedly asks Volkswagen to build electric cars in the US
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly asked Volkswagen to manufacture electric cars in the US, as part of ongoing negotiations concerning the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal. As German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reports, the electric vehicles would be built at VW's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The EPA has also asked the company to help build a nationwide charging network, according to Welt am Sonntag, which did not cite any sources in its report. It is not...
Negotiations over emissions scandal are ongoing -
California Air Resources Board rejects VW's proposal for fixing cheating diesel engines
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), which works closely with the federal EPA on automotive emissions issues, announced today that it has rejected Volkswagen's US proposal for fixing cars affected by the company's global diesel cheating scandal. The proposal had been submitted in late November.
This specific rejection only affects 2-liter diesels, the most common engine tied up in the scandal. The proposal for fixing 3-liter models, which are also affected, is not due for evaluation by...
That's not good -
Volkswagen reportedly proposes catalytic converter fix ahead of crucial meeting with EPA
There's no fix yet for the over 600,000 vehicles in the US affected by Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal, even though months have passed since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first discovered discrepancies in the German automaker's reports. That's because regulators have yet to approve Volkswagen's proposed solution, which includes a simple software fix for some 100,000 3-liter diesels.
Now, Volkswagen reportedly has a new solution up its sleeve. German newspaper Bild am...
VW CEO to meet with EPA administrator on Wednesday -
The US government is suing Volkswagen for emissions cheating
The US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency filed a joint lawsuit Monday against Volkswagen for installing illegal "defeat devices" in 600,000 of its diesel engine vehicles. The government accuses the car manufacturer of violating the Clean Air Act by importing and selling vehicles in the US that were designed differently than what Volkswagen described in its EPA certification.
Breach the public trust, endanger public health... -
VW Europe will start fixing its emissions-cheating engines next month
German regulators have approved a plan to fix many of Volkswagen's emissions-cheating diesel engines, at least the ones in Europe. VW will begin informing owners of the fix soon and cars should start getting fixed late next month.
The fixes shouldn't take more than an hour, according to Volkswagen, which says developing "customer-friendly solutions" was important. It's also important for the company, which has millions of cars to fix and it could be years before that monumental task is...
A flow rectifier -
Volkswagen blames emissions scandal on a 'mindset' that tolerated cheating
Volkswagen today presented the preliminary findings of an internal investigation into its sprawling diesel emissions scandal, outlining the systematic factors that fueled the scandal and providing new details on how technical fixes will be implemented.
At a press conference at its Wolfsburg, Germany headquarters Thursday morning, Volkswagen blamed the scandal on three main factors: individual misconduct, flawed internal policies, and a "mindset" in some parts of the company that tolerated...
we need the courage to be more honest. -
Volkswagen will debut an electric concept car at CES next month
Volkswagen would probably like to generate some buzz around... well, something that doesn't involve diesel or cheating or scandals or emissions tests right now. It might get that next month: the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), CES's parent organization, just announced that Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Herbert Diess will be taking the CES stage the evening of January 5th to show off "an all-electric concept car while focusing his remarks on electric mobility driving the automotive...
Going head-to-head for attention with the Chevy Bolt -
Volkswagen sees massive US sales drop in November
Volkswagen's diesel scandal problems are hitting the company's bottom line — hard. It's not just the massive fines and expensive repairs that we know are coming: people really like Volkswagen's diesel cars. And now, because none of the offending diesel-powered vehicles can be sold until they're fixed, they can't buy them. That means Volkswagen is selling way fewer cars.
Last month, VW's US sales were off nearly 25 percent from November last year, with the standard Golf (-64 percent), Jetta...
It's very bad -
VW executives reportedly knew about false fuel efficiency and emissions claims last year
In early November, two months after more than 11 million Volkswagen vehicles were found to be using software that deliberately underreported nitrous oxide emissions, the German car maker said that it had discovered that another 800,000 of its cars understated their carbon dioxide output and fuel efficiency. Volkswagen maintained that it only found out about the discrepancy in the wake of the wider diesel emissions scandal, but German newspaper Bild am Sonntag this weekend countered that...
Emissions impossible -
Volkswagen posts video showing how it will fix its cheating diesel engines in Europe
A video posted on YouTube today by Volkswagen Group presents the company's plan for fixing its so-called EA 189 diesel engines — the 1.6-liter and 2-liter powerplants that make up the majority of vehicles embroiled in an ongoing emissions cheating scandal. The update VW is proposing consists of two steps: an engine control software update and the installation of a "flow transformer," a plastic grating that's supposed to help even out the flow of air going into the mass flow sensor. The mass...
If you've never heard of a flow transformer, now's your chance -
Volkswagen has submitted plans for fixing its cheating diesel engines
Last week, Volkswagen submitted plans to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for recalling and fixing emissions on its 2-liter diesel cars that have "defeat devices" designed to look clean only when they're undergoing official testing measures; now, VW's Audi subsidiary has filed plans for fixing 3-liter diesels that were more recently caught up in the scandal.
The plans appear to be quite different, though: while the 3-liter engines can allegedly be brought into compliance using...
They still need approval -
Volkswagen apologizes for emissions scandal with full-page ad in dozens of papers
Volkswagen is apologizing. The company's American arm rolled out its first ad campaign today addressing the emissions scandals that have rocked the company over the past couple of months. The understated full-page ad, published in over 30 newspapers across the US today, says in large type: "We're working to make things right."
It continues, "Over the past several weeks, we've apologized to you, our loyal customers, about the 2.0L VW emissions issue. As we work tirelessly to develop a remedy,...
We sincerely hope you see this as a first step toward restoring your invaluable trust. -
Volkswagen apologizes to 2-liter diesel owners with $500 prepaid cards
Volkswagen of America is assembling what it calls a "goodwill package" for owners of 2-liter diesel vehicles affected by the company's massive emissions scandal, consisting of a $500 prepaid Visa card and another $500 good at Volkswagen dealerships. Cars from model years 2009 to 2015 are eligible; Audi, which has also offered the affected engine, will launch a similar program later this week, Automotive News reports. Three years of roadside assistance will also be handed out. To apply, owners...
There's a $500 credit good at VW dealerships, too -
EPA will test all new diesel cars on actual roads after Volkswagen emissions scandal
As it promised in September, the Environmental Protection Agency is expanding on-road emissions tests for diesel cars in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Previously tests were conducted in laboratory settings, allowing Volkswagen to use "defeat devices" on more than 11 million vehicles that could identify when they were under scrutiny, and adjust their emissions accordingly. The New York Times reports that the new tests will be carried out by the EPA and its Canadian equivalent...
Where we're going we do need roads -
VW admits false carbon dioxide readings on 800,000 vehicles after engineer steps forward
Volkswagen's emissions scandal is just getting worse. After admitting in September that some 11 million of its vehicles cheated inspections and emitted up to 40 times allowed amounts of nitrogen oxides, the company now says that its fuel economy and carbon dioxide estimates on another 800,000 vehicles are also false.
The German carmaker admitted to the "unexplained inconsistencies" in carbon dioxide readings this past Tuesday. Today, Bild am Sonntag revealed just how those "inconsistencies"...
There were irregularities in communication of fuel consumption values. -
Porsche, Audi, and Volkswagen have stopped selling a bunch more cars due to emissions concerns
The EPA recently called out Volkswagen's 3-liter diesel for emitting up to nine times the federal standards for nitrogen oxides, alleging that it has a "defeat device" — the same kind of cheat that had first nabbed VW with its smaller 2-liter diesels in September. Volkswagen quickly rebutted, claiming that the 3-liter engines weren't cheating emissions tests. Now, it's pulling every car from the US market that uses those engines anyway.
Affected cars include the Volkswagen Touareg, Porsche...
They keep stacking up -
Volkswagen's US sales go up in October, despite diesel emissions scandal
There is a world in which consumers swiftly punish Volkswagen where it counts — the coffers — for its massive, systematic deception of the Environmental Protection Agency in which it cheated its way around diesel emissions tests for half a decade.
This isn't that world.
Volkswagen of America just reported its October sales, the first full month of reporting since the scandal broke, and guess what? Sales are up 0.24 percent year over year, likely thanks in part to enormous discounts being...
We would like to again thank our customers for their patience and loyalty. -
Volkswagen denies another of its diesel engines is cheating on emissions tests
Volkswagen has denied claims that another one of its diesel-powered automobile engines is using hidden software to cheat on emissions tests. The US Environmental Protection Agency filed a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act earlier today, claiming a 3-liter diesel mill used in a variety of VW, Audi, and Porsche models also uses a so-called "defeat device" to cheat on regulatory tests, as is the case with a 2-liter engine in some 11 million Volkswagen vehicles worldwide. In an online...
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Another Volkswagen diesel engine is cheating emissions tests, EPA claims
More than a month after it first broke, Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal is still growing: the latest to get roped in is a 3-liter diesel mill used in a variety of VW, Audi, and Porsche models. The EPA filed a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act today in reference to the engine, which the agency claims can produce nitrogen oxide emissions up to nine times over EPA limits. As with the 2-liter engine that first exposed Volkswagen's cheating, the 3-liter is claimed to have a "defeat...
This might not be the end of it -
Volkswagen CEO says diesel emissions fixes will start in January
In a press release issued by Volkswagen Group this morning, CEO Matthias Müller — the Porsche boss who was recently promoted to replace Martin Winterkorn — says that the company is "working intensively to develop effective technical solutions" that will reverse the so-called defeat devices installed on millions of the company's diesel models worldwide, and that implementation of the fixes will start in January of next year.
The rest of the statement is mostly a recap of what Müller and other...
Deloitte is being brought on to investigate -
Volkswagen reportedly won't give promotions to any managers next year due to diesel scandal
Volkswagen's massive diesel emissions scandal isn't just an embarrassment for the company: by many estimates, it's also going to cost it tens of billions of dollars in fines, lawsuits, and recalls. So the company needs to find ways to cut back spending — and it's turning to its employees to make up some of that extra cash.
Employees in managerial positions shouldn't expect any raises next year, according to a report from German business magazine Manager Magazin. Sources tell the outlet that...
Cost-cutting measures are in effect -
Volkswagen says latest diesel emissions system is not a cheat
In case there was any question as to whether Volkswagen's multi-year deception over emissions performance on its widely popular 2.0-liter diesel engine was just a handful of evil engineers programming Earth-killing code into some Jettas, there's some additional information to consider this week: the company just disclosed to US regulatory bodies that it had a second emissions control system installed in its 2016 models, AP reports.
It's not clear whether the new system is a "cheat," though....
But is it? -
Volkswagen America's CEO blames software engineers for emissions cheating scandal
Volkswagen faced its first Congressional hearing over the diesel emissions scandal today. Michael Horn, the CEO of VW's American division, appeared in front of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee, and spent most of the hearing deflecting questions and denying that the company had knowledge of the so-called "defeat devices" that were used to cheat EPA emissions tests dating back to 2009.
Instead, Horn claimed the defeat devices were put in place by a few rogue software...
This was not a corporate decision. -
How will Volkswagen explain to Congress why it did nothing for a year?
Volkswagen's first Congressional hearing to discuss its massive diesel emissions cheating scandal is tomorrow morning, and the testimony of VW of America CEO Michael Horn has been published. It's mostly a rehash of what various executives at the company (and at the EPA) have said in recent weeks — Volkswagen is very sorry, it intends to remedy the issue, and affected cars are safe to drive in the meantime — but one passage in particular caught my eye (bolding mine, for emphasis):
A big moment in the diesel scandal -
New Volkswagen CEO halts non-essential investment to get ready for massive diesel recall
Some estimates suggest that Volkswagen could spend close to $90 billion righting the wrongs of its dirty diesel engines, a staggering figure by any measure. That's going to require some adjustments — and Matthias Müller, the Porsche CEO tapped to replace Martin Winterkorn, is starting to acknowledge them.
Speaking at a company event today, Müller said that "anything that is not absolutely necessary will be cancelled or postponed," noting that "it is not possible to quantify the commercial...
A plan is coming soon for vehicle owners -
Volkswagen is gearing up for the biggest recall in company history
Volkswagen's newly appointed CEO Matthias Müller says the car maker has a plan to refit customers' vehicles affected by the ongoing US emissions cheating scandal. Müller delivered the news to a group of company managers at Volkswagen HQ in Wolfsburg, Germany, following a long weekend with the project team tasked with helping dig the company out of its crisis, according to The Wall Street Journal. The plan awaits regulatory approval. Volkswagen's market value has plummeted by $25 billion since...
The recall is expected to require both software and hardware fixes -
Volkswagen sets up website for owners of its emissions-cheating diesel cars
If you've got one of the roughly 11 million vehicles affected by Volkswagen's enormous emissions scandal, you probably have many more questions than answers right now. The good news is that VW has a place for you to learn more; the bad news, though, is that there's not much to learn at this point.
Volkswagen has set up a website, vwdieselinfo.com, which leads with yet another mea culpa from Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn, both in video and text format. "We are committed to...
Not a lot of helpful info here yet -
The EPA shot itself in the foot by opposing rules that could've exposed VW
It was the cheat heard round the world: last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused Volkswagen of gaming emissions testing. The German automaker programmed millions of cars — sold worldwide — to release fewer emissions during the testing procedure, while projectile vomiting pollutants at up to 40 times the legal limit when the cars were on the road.
Interestingly, the EPA itself didn’t ferret out VW’s emissions ruse — which the carmaker started deploying in model year 2009...
What other secrets lie in the secret, legally locked-down code? -
Volkswagen's new CEO is Porsche chief Matthias Müller
Volkswagen didn't waste much time finding a new chief executive. Current Porsche boss Matthias Müller will become VW's new CEO, the embattled automaker announced today. Müller's name had been floated in recent days as a potential replacement for Martin Winterkorn, who resigned as CEO in light of Volkswagen's ongoing emissions scandal. "Volkswagen needs a fresh start — also in terms of personnel. I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation," Winterkorn said in a farewell...
The turbulence is far from over -
EPA warns all automakers that it's 'stepping up' emissions testing in wake of VW scandal
On a conference call today, the EPA told reporters that it is notifying all automakers selling vehicles in the US that it's "stepping up" surveillance of emissions being released by new models. Beyond that, though, the call came across as more of a defensive measure on the part of EPA leadership in light of the massive Volkswagen diesel scandal: in the same breath, it reminded callers that its current testing measures have been "very successful," featuring a "well-established process" with...
Making up for past failures? -
What is the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal?
As you may have heard, Volkswagen is embroiled in a growing scandal over the emissions produced by a diesel engine used in a variety of its models. It's been less than a week since the news broke, and the company is already in disarray: the CEO is out, and many more senior executives are expected to get the axe on Friday and beyond.
But what exactly is the scandal? What happened, how, and why? Let us explain in a quick video — we promise it'll only take two and a half minutes of your time.
Get smarter about diesel engines in just two and a half minutes -
This is the testing rig that caught Volkswagen riding dirty
Volkswagen is embroiled in one of the worst auto industry scandals to date — and it's all thanks to a team of researchers at West Virginia University that have been waiting more than a year for the revelations to go global. The group published their findings in spring 2014 detailing how Volkswagen diesel-powered vehicles were emitting far higher emissions levels in standard driving conditions than during testing cycles required and regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The team...
West Virginia University made the find more than a year ago -
The six most insane things Volkswagen's board just said about its CEO's resignation
Following Martin Winterkorn's resignation from the world's largest car company a few minutes ago, the company's Supervisory Board put out a numbered list of "conclusions" it has reached about the growing emissions scandal that threatens to bring the entire company down.
The verbiage is mostly what you'd expect from a handful of suits who are suddenly scrambling to prevent an enormous global institution from falling like a Jenga tower, but it still reads a little strangely.
Here are the...
Full Consequences -
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns in face of growing emissions scandal
Martin Winterkorn, the CEO of Volkswagen, has abruptly resigned today. The move comes after the discovery that the company was allegedly using "defeat" software on 11 million of its diesel-powered vehicles to cheat emissions tests. The German car manufacturer said yesterday that it would have to set aside €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion) to cover the costs associated with the issue. German publication Der Tagesspiegel reported earlier this week that Winterkorn would be replaced by current Porsche...
Volkswagen needs a fresh start. -
Volkswagen's $7.3 billion diesel deception is a blessing in disguise
Volkswagen’s snowballing diesel emissions scandal is a nightmare on virtually every level. For the company, lawsuits will follow, heads will roll, and billions of dollars will be paid in fines and damages. (As of this writing, Volkswagen had already earmarked €6.5 billion to deal with the fallout — and that may not be enough, considering that at least 11 million vehicles are affected, owners will rightfully demand modifications or replacements, and regulatory agencies worldwide could levy...
No cost is too great to accelerate clean energy -
Volkswagen says emissions scandal affects 11 million vehicles worldwide
The Volkswagen Group today announced that software "irregularities" in some of its diesel engines affect 11 million vehicles worldwide, as regulators in the US and other countries investigate allegations that the company used the software to cheat on emissions testing. In a statement released Tuesday, the German manufacturer said it would set aside €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion) to cover costs associated with the issue, which allowed some models to skirt emissions regulations in the US.
The...
Resolving it will cost $7.3 billion -
Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal now has the attention of Congress and the DOJ
The US Justice Department has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into Volkswagen over the German automaker's alleged cheating on US emissions tests. This follows an Environmental Protection Agency notice issued Friday claiming Volkswagen deliberately dodged air-pollution rules so that nearly 500,000 diesel-powered automobiles sold since 2008 would appear to meet federal standards. The EPA issued a violation of the Clean Air Act and opened its own investigation. Now, the Justice...
And even more engines could be affected -
VW chairman apologizes for diesel emissions manipulation that could cost billions
Following the huge news last week that the EPA had uncovered special software inside diesel-powered Volkswagens sold in the US that could "defeat" emissions testing, making them appear compliant with clean air standards when they actually aren't, Volkswagen chairman of the board Martin Winterkorn seems to be owning up.
This is just the beginning -
EPA accuses Volkswagen of gaming emissions testing in nearly 500,000 cars
The EPA has accused Volkswagen of unlawfully using special software to get around emissions regulations.
Emissions at 40 times the standard