
Volkswagen pulls 2016 diesel lineup from US market - urda
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/volkswagen-pulls-2016-diesel-lineup-from-us-market/
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seren
> Horn testified that the decision to use the cheating software was not made
> at the corporate level. Instead, it was "software engineers who put this in
> for whatever reason." He said three people have been suspended over the
> issue and that "this was not a corporate decision."

>He told lawmakers the automaker is working on "software and hardware
solutions."

>When asked how the cheating software worked, Horn said he didn't know.
"Personally, no. I'm not an engineer," he said.

It is a good reminder, if you've ever doubted it, that if someone asks you to
do something illegal/not compliant, you'll be thrown under the bus if the
company get caught.

I have a really hard time believing that this was the decision of a lone wolf
at the bottom of the food chain. At least, the management is responsible for
creating (or not) a culture of compliance vs result at any cost.

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evolve2k
"In 1973 for example, the Environmental Protection Agency noted that
Volkswagen sold around 25,000 cars with temperature-sensing switches that were
used to deactivate the emissions control system. Specifically, Volkswagen’s
Fastback and Squareback 1973 models would sense low temperatures and cut out
the cars' exhaust recirculation system."

Wait, what?! I'm now definitely not convinced of their "it was all the
Engineers fault, we didn't even know" argument.

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trimtab
The current owners are really screwed at least in California. They MUST
install whatever fix VW provides for their current diesel or they will be
illegal and unregistered in California. So there will be no choice in
accepting VW's fix not matter the loss of performance or fuel economy. And
other states will likely do the same.

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evolve2k
A friend was telling me as a result of all this VW have announced they're now
betting on a 100% electric future for the company. Can anyone provide a good
link to this?

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edent
At the moment, in the UK, they only sell 3 electric models.

e-Golf. A normal, boring Golf with an ~90 mile range.

e-Up. A small and cheap e-Car. Again an ~80 mile range.

GTI-e. A weird sort of hybrid. Sporty, but can only do 20 miles on electric -
the rest is petrol

It's a good start, but they're behind Tesla, Nissan, Toyota, and BMW in terms
of mind-share around electric vehicles. Their in-car technology was (from what
I saw) fairly basic compared to the competition as well.

This scandal could be absolutely catastrophic for their ICE brand. Having a
strong electric presence can't hurt.

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evolve2k
Found a link to the article myself: [http://qz.com/522844/volkswagen-is-
pegging-its-fate-to-a-maj...](http://qz.com/522844/volkswagen-is-pegging-its-
fate-to-a-major-bet-on-electric-cars/)

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lghh
I wonder, if they had decided to sell them, how well or poorly would they have
sold?

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rdsnsca
None would of been sold. The EPA would of refused to certify them for sale in
the US, so they would of just sat somewhere unsellable.

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lghh
Ahh, I see. I misunderstood.

