Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Deception can get expensive

VW is going to lay out nearly $9 billion to buy back or repair the diesel cars with the fraudulent emissions programming. I would hate to be the one to stand in front of the stockholders. Sometimes you eat the bear...


FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen said Thursday it had set aside $7.8 billion ($8.8 billion) to buy back or fix diesel-powered cars that had been rigged to cheat in emissions tests.

The sum is part of 16.2 billion euros the company deducted from last year's earnings to cover the costs of the emissions scandal, in which its cars were fitted with software that enabled them to pass tests but then turned emissions controls off during everyday driving.

The German automaker further broke down the set-aside for 2015 by saying it included 7.0 billion euros for fines and legal costs worldwide.

Analysts say the final bill will likely be much higher, when including the impact of lower sales. Volkswagen says it is reporting costs that it knows about at the present time.

The company said last week that it lost 1.5 billion euros on an after-tax basis after a profit of 11.1 billion euros in 2014.

Volkswagen is currently working out a settlement with U.S. authorities in federal court in San Francisco, and has said that would include an offer to buy back as many as 500,000 of the just under 600,000 defective vehicles.

CEO Matthias Mueller said Thursday that recalling and fixing the cars that were rigged to cheat on the tests "will remain our most important task until the very last vehicle has been put in order."

He used the company's annual news conference to also sketch out a wide-ranging transformation of the company that would see it focus more on electric vehicles and services like car-sharing as it seeks to get past its scandal over cheating on diesel emissions tests.

He stressed that the company's car business remains "fundamentally sound" but detailed a promised plan to emphasize digital services and zero-emissions vehicles. The company would soon form a legally independent company to promote business in mobility services, which can include things like ride-sharing apps and car-sharing, he said.

Mueller said that the company would "make electric cars one of Volkswagen's new hallmarks" with 20 new models by 2020.

Volkswagen had previously emphasized diesel technology, which has suffered a blow since it became clear Volkswagen engines could not meet U.S. emissions standards without cheating. The company has admitted using engine software that disabled emissions controls when vehicles were not being tested. That improved performance and mileage but meant the vehicles spewed far more than the legal limit of pollutants.

Mueller apologized again for the scandal, telling the company's annual news conference in Wolfsburg, Germany, that "we disappointed many people who trusted Volkswagen."

The company said its robust cash reserves of 24.5 billion euros at year end left it in a strong financial position. Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said that the company would not propose any capital increase to shareholders at its annual meeting in June.

Do stupid things knowingly and pay heavy penalties for doing them..

If I had one of them, you'd have to pay me pretty big money to let them "fix" it! They are working GREAT! "Fixing it" will increase maintenance and reduce mileage.

I get 44-50 in the summer months, 40-42 in the colder months. I don't want them to fix mine.

Since the feds know where they are, you can bet that they'll come knocking if you don't fix it.

Mitsubishi Motors announced a few day's ago that they did the same thing going all the way back to 1991, and are investigating as to how many and what models are involved.

Wonder when they are going to nail U.S. manufacturers for the deception...


Phil

Not excusing the cheating, but why should we have emissions regulations that are tighter than Europe?

The wife DOES have one - and, like you said, it better be big bux, OR full replacement. She loves those little diesels.. 44 mpg and very smooth performance..

Eff them..

I heard that same thing.. It could be yuge..

and then what? Drag the owners off in handcuffs? There's no legislation that addresses the issue, other than the obligation of the manufacturer to force the dealer to "fix" the cars when they come into the dealership for any reason.

We went through the exact same thing when Cummins and Detroit got nabbed with Class 8 engines in the early 2000's. Nothing happened to the owners of the trucks, and those early ECM programs are still very much wanted in the secondary market.

Twas my first thought. Manufacturers don't exist in isolation. You know there are others.

I'd really like to see some real-world actual impact analysis done on the 'green' clean-energy vehicles. Electricity is not a zero-emissions product. Neither are batteries or their manufacture a resource-neutral deal.

Most of the pollution on the west coast is coming from Asia and across the Pacific. Was reading an article the other day that while California has made some big gains in what we omit, pollution still isn't all that much better.


Phil

The big mistake of the EPA is regulating emissions on a percentile basis - instead of emissions per mile, hundred miles, or some such standard.
Many here are "seasoned" (old) enough to remember the AIR pumps on emission control systems. All it did was inject enough air into the exhaust to dilute the emission ratios.

Injecting oxygen containing air into hot exhaust gases containing unburned fuel cause a re-burn of the gases and yes it did help with the pollution...

Phil

I'm betting an un"Fixed" one that was never taken in for the reboot will be a hot item on the used market in the very near future.

Also bet like other posters have said, that everyone else is just as guilty just not as caught.

Stupid EPA and their stupid emissions laws. Oh well I'm off to cram another tire in the wood stove.:)

The engines didn't have any problem meeting the standards, since the software can't fool the tests.

Turning it off when not being tested simply gave better mileage and performance, which kept customers happy.

They could easily "meet the standards" if they lower the mileage estimates