Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[feenix74]

It would be interesting to find out how much discounting the dealers are doing to keep the VWs driving out the showroom floor.

SmartSalary is currently advertising a new Golf for $355 a fortnight on a salary sacrificed novated lease which is probably helping sales at the moment.

[Amalgam]

Volkswagen settles with US 'dieselgate' owners

VW strikes $5000 out-of-court deal with US-based owners of vehicles affected by its diesel-engine emissions cheating scandal
Volkswagen will compensate US owners of vehicles affected by its falsified diesel-engine emissions tests $5000 each in a deal reached yesterday.

According to Germany's Die Welt newspaper, the agreement will be presented to US Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco today. The settlement will see Volkswagen avoid trial.

Given the almost 600,000 vehicles affected stateside, VW stands to lose US$3 billion from the deal, a substantial chunk of the US$7.6 billion the company set aside to cover the matter globally.

The amount comes in addition to the $1000 goodwill gesture already extended to affected owners.

Volkswagen has yet to formally comment on the matter, but has previously indicated there will be a recall notice issued.

It's believed plantiffs in Europe will seek to emulate the deal struck in the US, however, there is no word on any such action locally.

It's believed the expenses could cut as much as 70 per cent from Volkswagen's fourth-quarter operating profit, which is expected to fall to 992 million Euros. Australian owners affected are unlikely to see the same sort of largess.

In related news, Reuters and Automotive News have reported that the defeat device software at the heart of the scandal was first developed by Audi in 1999. But the software wasn't introduced in production vehicles until around 2005, when Volkswagen engineers were unable to bring nitrogen oxide emissions levels below the mandated ceiling.


Here we go boys and girls.

US owners get USD6000 inc goodwill payment (AUD 9000) and we get hubris and obvascation.

[OilBurna]

Raw end of the stick as usual


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Amalgam]

The last paragraph about Audi developing the software in 1999, 6 years before implementation is very telling. It shows pre planing and intent to deceive.

[Dutch77]

Volkswagen settles with US 'dieselgate' owners

VW strikes $5000 out-of-court deal with US-based owners of vehicles affected by its diesel-engine emissions cheating scandal
Volkswagen will compensate US owners of vehicles affected by its falsified diesel-engine emissions tests $5000 each in a deal reached yesterday.

According to Germany's Die Welt newspaper, the agreement will be presented to US Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco today. The settlement will see Volkswagen avoid trial.

..

Best to wait for the official presentation as it is reported in the USA as $1bn compensation for around 550,000 vehicles which has been described as approximately $1,700 (although those numbers don't balance). This is purely an average as new owners requiring only a software update are unlikely to get much if anything versus those with older cars requiring more work.

As for the potential existence of the code since 1999, it does not prove any more intent than if it was created in 2008.

The US is a big market for VW - and they're down 12.5% for the first quarter. By comparison we are tiny and are only down 3.8%. It's just logic they would be paying more attention to settling the US problems first which are also much greater than any infractions elsewhere.

[Guest001]

Well read this and weep folks Bet we dont get anything near that.

VW to offer to buy back nearly 500,000 US diesel cars | Stuff.co.nz

[Amalgam]

More on the same from jalopnik


Volkswagen Will Offer $5000 (Update: And Maybe A Buyback) To Customers Affected By Dieselgate: Report

Volkswagen Will Offer $5000 (Update: And Maybe A Buyback) To Customers Affected By Dieselgate: Report
Photo: Michael Sohn/AP
After many months of deliberation and confusion following the Dieselgate emissions scandal, it looks like an agreement between Volkswagen and the feds is near, as a Reuters Report cites German newspaper Die Welt, saying VW has agreed with U.S. authorities to pay each affected owner $5,000.

Last month, we reported that a judge had given VW until April 21st to come up with a settlement for the 600,000 owners who bought their polluting cars. Well, that day is tomorrow, and it looks like they’ve got something, though it may not be a fix to the problem.

Die Welt says their source, who is close to the negotiations between VW and U.S. Authorities, believes that VW and U.S. authorities have agreed to a $5,000 payout to all owners of vehicles affected by the Dieselgate emissions scandal, which involved VW engineers installing a defeat-device into their software to trick the EPA into thinking the cars were clean.

The German newspaper says the agreement will be presented to Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco on Thursday.

Assuming this deal only applies to the nearly 600,000 affected diesel vehicles sold in the U.S., this means Volkswagen stands to lose about $3 billion from this settlement.

And that doesn’t even account for all the other fines regulatory agencies around the world will impose on the company, nor does it account for lawsuits from investors and other groups.

As for an actual technical fix to the smog-producing VWs, Die Welt says the agreement doesn’t say much on that matter, as Reuters reports:

Die Welt said the agreement did not include a detailed plan to fix the affected cars...However, the owners of affected cars should receive $5,000 each in compensation and VW will separately have to pay to fix their vehicles, the paper said.

So it looks like there’s at least some progress being made, which is good for VW, as they just need to plow through and get this all over with and behind them.

UPDATE:

A newer Reuters report based on info from two new sources claims that VW will likely tell the judge on Thursday that it’s willing to buy back 500,000 2.0-liter diesel models affected by this scandal.

The report also says that repairs, rather than buy-backs, are also still on the table, saying:

Volkswagen may also offer to repair polluting diesel vehicles if U.S. regulators approve the fix as workable at a future date, the sources said. But it is not certain if those vehicles will be deemed fixable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

We’ve reached out to VW for clarification, as we’ve still got lots of questions. Would a buyback be in addition to the $5,000 compensation? How would VW determine the value of each vehicle when “buying back?” Are the 3.0-liter diesels included in all this?


UPDATE 2:

Reuters is at it again with yet another report. This time, they say the “framework deal” involves buying back 500,000 Jettas, Golfs and Audi A3s, and in addition, giving cash to buyers.

The early report said owners would be given $5,000, but based on another source, Reuters has back-pedaled a bit and said “it is not clear how much owners might receive.” The newest report goes on to say:

VW will pay cash compensation to owners who either sell their vehicles back or get them fixed, a source briefed on the matter said. Owners selling back their vehicles will get an additional cash payment on top of receiving the estimated value of the vehicles from before the emissions scandal became public in September 2015.

The report mentions that an engineering fix has yet to be devised, and that any proposal would first have to be approved by U.S. regulators. Once that fix is approved, owners will have limited time to choose whether to fix or sell back their vehicles, as the report says:

Owners are expected to have around two years to decide whether to sell back vehicles or get them repaired. It is not clear whether VW will be allowed to resell vehicles they buy back, the source said.

Total compensation, according to one source, is expected to exceed $1 billion on top of the cost of buying back the vehicles.

The latest report also addresses 3.0-liter diesels found in larger VW, Audi and Porsche SUVs, saying that they are not included in the buyback, though no explanation why is given. It’s worth noting, though, that those are the most expensive vehicles affected by the scandal.

Details are still murky, but we’ll update you as we learn more.

[ian]

Mitsubishi Admits To Cheating On Fuel Economy Tests And It's Nissan That Caught Them

I never knew that Mitsubishi made vehicles for Nissan and Nissan dobed them in

[Guest001]

That is exactly the article in my link

[Amalgam]

They ALL game the system to flatter their products. Some use ultra low friction lubricants that don't go into your production car, some run the test a hundred times and use high octane fuels and chose the best results, some like Mitsubishi allegedly over inflate the tyres and fiddle with the dyno. I don't for a moment excuse any of this, and we have all accepted that your MPG will vary from the sticker.

But no other manufacturer has written a software cheat 6 years before implementation.

[feenix74]

I am a life-long VW-owner. I still have my Dragon Green 97 Golf that I waited for 4 months to be built and shipped from the Wolfburg factory for me. I have only ever owned VWs and my fleet is now up to four. However, based on the behaviour of VAG in both the dieselgate and the loss of engine power resulting in the death of the young lady in Melbourne, I feel like I am fighting a loosing battle at home against my wife who is insisting that our next car not be a VW because she has lost all faith and trust in VW.

[Dutch77]

I guess you could always give her the facts? ie. there was no fault with her car and instead cause of death may have been due to phone distraction? (as per coroner's report).

As Amalgam said, they all cheat and game the system. I agree this is a potentially bad case of it, but damn I'd still rather have a diesel that doesn't comply in some parts of the world with emissions than say the Toyota acceleration issues that were reportedly responsible for 37 deaths that were covered up.

Each to their own I guess.

[VW Convert]

I am a life-long VW-owner. I still have my Dragon Green 97 Golf that I waited for 4 months to be built and shipped from the Wolfburg factory for me. I have only ever owned VWs and my fleet is now up to four. However, based on the behaviour of VAG in both the dieselgate and the loss of engine power resulting in the death of the young lady in Melbourne, I feel like I am fighting a loosing battle at home against my wife who is insisting that our next car not be a VW because she has lost all faith and trust in VW.

You should get a copy of the coroners report and show it to your wife. The woman died when a truck ran into the back of her car, even had she braked, the truck should have been able to avoid running into her. The coroner found no evidence of fault on VW's behalf but the media here never let the facts get in the way of a good story.


Cheers

George

[feenix74]

I have tried the facts. She is driving the 07 Golf TDI at the moment and she loves it. However, when we discuss future car options, she flatout says she does not trust VW - more the hubris and arrogance of senior management and their handling of the problems than any specific problem with the VW engineering. I am a civil engineer by trade so I can rationally reason out any specific engineering concerns with her but I cannot give her a rational argument to counter the hubris and arrogance.

To me it is indicative that VW is loosing the "hearts and minds" campaign in how they are dealing with dieselgate and other previous issues (DSG, engine power loss, etc) here in Australia. It won't affect us die-hard VW fanatics but it will turn away potential VW owners.

[VW Convert]

I have tried the facts.

Silly me, I forgot it's a woman we are dealing with! LOL

She is driving the 07 Golf TDI at the moment and she loves it. However, when we discuss future car options, she flatout says she does not trust VW - more the hubris and arrogance of senior management and their handling of the problems than any specific problem with the VW engineering.

So she's looking to buy of a manufacturer with integrity? Let us know when she finds one, I think this may be difficult, they all seem to have skeletons in the closet, just that VAG's skeletons have been exposed most recently.

Cheers

George