Many people still cannot understand the Volkswagen TDI emissions scandal. How could the company go to these lengths and cheat on the EPA emissions tests to enable them to sell the small passenger cars with the 2.0-liter TDI engines in the United States?
The affected cars are the 2009-2015 VW Golf, Jetta, Beetle, Passat, and Audi A3 model with the TDI engine.
The Volkswagen leadership must answer some very hard questions and we have scanned the inter-webs to come up with the top five difficult questions.
5. VW, WTF were you thinking?
The risks associated with cheating the EPA emissions tests and deceiving the customers far outweigh any benefits. In the first day of trading after the news of the scandal, the company stock lost about 17% of its value (or close to $18 Billion). Then, there are additional government and lawsuit penalties and costs. How will VW restore the trust?
4. Who knew what and when?
Did the VW CEO, Professor Doctor Martin Winterkorn know about this problem initially? Did he help conceive this plan? If he did not know until recently, then is he really in control of the company?
3. How much power and MPG would the engine lose in “clean” mode?
The VW TDI engine controller that cheated the EPA emissions test decreased the power and efficiency of the engine. How much of a decrease was it? How could it justify cheating on the test?
2. How will VW compensate owners of the affected TDI cars?
United States and Canada issued a stop sale of 2015 and 2016 VW TDI cars. Current owner of affected cars will have a heck of a time trying to sell their cars. The resale value of these cars will plummet or already plummeted.
1. Is there a second shoe and when will it fall?
Is there more to this story? Will other world markets be affected by this? Are other VW engines affected by this?
Watch the hard questions and participate in the discussion.
