And what does this mean for diesels in general?
http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...ndal-expands-to-11-million-diesels-worldwide/
http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...ndal-expands-to-11-million-diesels-worldwide/
How F'd is VW?
- Thread starter djs
- Start date
Brombear
GT Owner
Very good question. Being a german I was more than shocked to see the behavior of a company whose CEO is an engineer and not a beancounter. Everybody that does business in the US is more than aware how painful expensive legal misbehavior can get and how much damage the brand would suffer. I am really wondering how the decision has been made to go with such a cheat.
The consequences of this action are still not clear, not for VW and not for the other manufacturers (we are not hearing statements from other manufacturers and I guess there is a reason). Here in germany every car nut knows there is a lot of lobbying happening in our country so environmental regulations are always kind of watered down (guess it is the same in the US), but what made it problematic is that there seem to be no real emission tests anymore, they are being done via the OBD diagnosis port of the car. So it is a good question if this is just the tip of the iceberg we are seeing and who else is using the same strategies. For sure this topic is not going away for a long time. Really sad to see the quality of "made/engineered in germany" label being pulled through dirt.
The consequences of this action are still not clear, not for VW and not for the other manufacturers (we are not hearing statements from other manufacturers and I guess there is a reason). Here in germany every car nut knows there is a lot of lobbying happening in our country so environmental regulations are always kind of watered down (guess it is the same in the US), but what made it problematic is that there seem to be no real emission tests anymore, they are being done via the OBD diagnosis port of the car. So it is a good question if this is just the tip of the iceberg we are seeing and who else is using the same strategies. For sure this topic is not going away for a long time. Really sad to see the quality of "made/engineered in germany" label being pulled through dirt.
Sinovac
GT Owner
Massive class action, EPA and state enforcement actions on the way. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Cobrar
GT Owner
Brombear
GT Owner
Sinovac
GT Owner
Following the GM playbook, to gain a PR advantage in the States, VW Group just announced its new CEO:
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
Cobrar
GT Owner
If Mary Bara looked like that, GM share price would be double.
Imagine the result if that gal asked Congress for a bit more petty cash.
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AJB
GT
This will allow VW 's Market Value to decrease enough to allow FIAT to buy them. This is the partner that Sergio has been looking for over the past year once all the dust settles..
ajb (andy)
ajb (andy)
Cobrar
GT Owner
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
German government ministers knew?
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/0...warned-vw-test-beating-software/?intcmp=hpbt3
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/0...warned-vw-test-beating-software/?intcmp=hpbt3
TO AWSUM
Ford GT Owner
This is super easy to determine who made the decision. Identify who wrote the software code and ask him/her who gave the direction to write it. I am very sure the software engineer didn't write the code without being directed. Follow the paper trail up the ladder to its end at the top.
In the military, all us engineers covered our butts by saving emails/letters directing us from the top to do things we knew were wrong and brought it to their attention that it was wrong. If the direction came verbally from a staff meeting, we followed it up with an email to the boss confirming the direction. Saved our butts many times when upper management tried to deny giving us bad direction and tried to make us their scape goats.
In the military, all us engineers covered our butts by saving emails/letters directing us from the top to do things we knew were wrong and brought it to their attention that it was wrong. If the direction came verbally from a staff meeting, we followed it up with an email to the boss confirming the direction. Saved our butts many times when upper management tried to deny giving us bad direction and tried to make us their scape goats.
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texas mongrel
GT Owner
My company was bought by a large German outfit, and I consequently spent three years during my earn-out sitting on their board. My observation of German corporate mentality is that it is very layered and internally rigid, with strict lines of reporting and demarcation. The consequence of this is that orders can go down easily, but its almost impossible for feedback to go up. So, my guess is that the engineering team were told to meet certain emmission and mileage objectives, but couldn't do it without the 'dodge' software. I'd bet that the engineering team tried to get this message up to their management, but the bosses only heard "we have achieved your orders", so the dodge became de facto, the solution and everyone moved on.
Those three years in Hamburg sucked!
Those three years in Hamburg sucked!
twobjshelbys
GT Owner
That's what I said in another forum. Simply subpoena the code repository database (probably enterprise perforce) and go back looking for who checked in the first of the parallel engine management. The first part would be to find the code that defines the heuristic algorithm for finding out the test condition . Then find his manager and the emails.
Note that "selective tuning" for benchmarks is common, especially for storage.
Our company had an ethics policy. If we ever felt we were directed to do something that was illegal, immoral or fattening there was a "whistleblower" process. I was directed to ship code that I knew would break other things and resigned rather than battle it any more. More specifically, I was RAPEd (Retire Aged Personnel Early, https://www.netjeff.com/humor/item.cgi?file=EarlyRetirementPlan)
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Copenhagen GT
GT Owner
Brombear
GT Owner
That's funny. I had the same situation selling my company to a US one and it wasn't a picknick for me staying in the company. Luckily for me, german legal system doesn't allow for employee contracts with a longer resign phase than 3 months. In the beginning I wanted to stay longer but soon found out that all the fun had gone and nobody really listened to me anyway.
My take on it was that when it is no longer your baby you need to let it go. Such a huge mind shift from being owner to just an employee does not really work
My take on it was that when it is no longer your baby you need to let it go. Such a huge mind shift from being owner to just an employee does not really work
Brombear
GT Owner
Cobrar
GT Owner
You'll likely never know, but you can safely assume that responsible OEM"s will quickly form cross functional teams to review their current practices/processes to understand and evaluate any potential risk/exposure. It is a recurring practice each time that an OEM goes through one of these major issues. A recent example - unintended acceleration/Toyota/floor mats. Review design and production for regulatory compliance and/or product risk mitigation strategies.
Brombear
GT Owner
One environmental NGO here in Germany has announced today that it has lots of documented measurements and found deviations exceeding 500-3000%. They have asked the OEMs to disclose tomorrow otherwise they are going to disclose. Not sure if this is just a bluff, we are going to see tomorrow.
Copenhagen GT
GT Owner
News here say that BMW also in the problem zone ...... if these two - why not then every single other car company??
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