Diesel Car & Light Truck News

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  October 28, 2016

The European Commission fears steps taken by Volkswagen to refit polluting diesel cars may damage the vehicles' engines, the Spiegel magazine reported, citing unidentified staff at the European Union's executive branch.

Software updates carried out by Volkswagen could inflict greater stress on engine components, according to the European Commission.

Officials are basing their concerns on feedback from experts at the Vehicle Emissions Laboratory (VELA) in northern Italy.

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-facility/vehicle-emissions-laboratory-vela

VW denied its technical modifications would cause damage to the cars.

"The software update will have no adverse influences on (fuel) consumption or the durability of the engine and its components," a VW spokesman said.

"We need VW to guarantee, in a legally binding way and without any time limit, that the repairs will work and do not have any negative impact," a European Commission official said on Monday.

"An advanced guarantee declaration is not necessary," a VW spokesman replied.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Unimpressed by VW's new SUV: https://gearheadgrrrl.com/2016/10/28/vw-youve-lost-me/

[kscarbel2]

9 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Unimpressed by VW's new SUV: https://gearheadgrrrl.com/2016/10/28/vw-youve-lost-me/

Designed specifically for the US market but also with the China market in mind (where VW has virtually been a non-participant in their red hot SUV market over the last 3-4 years), the new SUV is terrible. VW has never been able to design an attractive and competitive SUV. 

.

[kscarbel2]

House Republicans question VW settlement

The Hill  /  November 1, 2016

Two Republicans are probing the settlement agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Volkswagen in the wake of the automaker’s emissions scandal. 

In two Tuesday letters to the EPA, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Penn.), the chairman of the committee’s investigative subpanel, requested more information about the $14.7 billion settlement approved by a federal judge last month. 

The Republicans said they are concerned about the $2 billion VW is set to invest in zero-emission vehicle technologies. Upton and Murphy worry those investments could give VW a competitive edge in the zero-emission vehicle market. 

“It appears that, just as the company plans to enter the EV market, it will be consenting to a court-required $2 billion investment – potentially into its own infrastructure and to support its own newly entered market,” they wrote. “This is a curious outcome for the settlement of a cheating scandal."

The members also requested more data from the EPA about the exact amount of emissions Volkswagen released due to improper software on vehicles that allowed excess pollution.  

Regulators have estimated VW vehicles equipped with the software emitted up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide. The company is paying $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation efforts under the settlement, but the congressmen want more information on the real-world impacts of those emissions. 

VW and federal officials agreed this summer to a $14.7 billion settlement following revelations of technology installed on some Volkswagen vehicles that turned off pollution controls. More than $10 billion of that will go toward repairing or replacing 2-liter diesel VW and Audi vehicles equipped with the software.

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GOP lawmakers question VW settlement with U.S.

Automotive News  /  November 1, 2016

Republican lawmakers today pressed the EPA for answers about aspects of Volkswagen’s deal with the Department of Justice and the agency to settle aspects of the company’s diesel emissions violations, saying the settlement could give VW an advantage as it readies a major electric-vehicle push.

Part of the settlement, approved last week by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, requires VW to invest $2 billion in zero-emission vehicles over the next decade.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, U.S. Reps. Fred Upton, D-Mich., and Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said the structure of the required spending may enable VW to “obtain substantial competitive benefits, if not a monopoly” on the burgeoning electric-vehicle charging market.

VW’s allocation of the $2 billion also appears to be subject to “limited” federal oversight, the GOP lawmakers said.

With VW Group readying plans to launch 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025, the duo called the $2 billion zero-emission vehicle fund a “curious outcome for the settlement of a cheating scandal.”

Under the settlement, VW must also set aside $2.7 billion to fund environmental remediation projects to make up for the excess nitrogen oxide emissions spewed by its roughly 475,000 2.0-liter diesel vehicles with rigged emissions software. In a second letter to McCarthy, Upton and Murphy also asked the agency to describe how it determined that $2.7 billion was the appropriate amount to fund those projects.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency would review the letters and respond.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

The congress critters should read the settlement- VW is required to spend the 2 billion on promotion and infrastructure for all electric vehicles, and cannot use the money just to promote their own. In other words, the charging stations VW pays for cannot have sockets that only fit VW electric car plugs.

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

The congress critters should read the settlement- VW is required to spend the 2 billion on promotion and infrastructure for all electric vehicles, and cannot use the money just to promote their own. In other words, the charging stations VW pays for cannot have sockets that only fit VW electric car plugs.

VW is getting off the hook FAR too easy, and culprit Ferdinand Piech isn't even being investigated, much less going to jail. 

[kscarbel2]

Ferdinand Piëch, the immensely powerful former chief of Volkswagen's supervisory board, is more than likely the root cause of the VW diesel-emissions scandal. Whether he specifically asked for, tacitly approved, or was even aware of the company's use of software to deliberately fudge EPA emissions testing is immaterial.

I sat next to him at an industry dinner in the Nineties, just after the fourth-generation Golf had debuted at the Frankfurt show. I told him, "I'd like to congratulate you on the new Golf. First of all, it's a nice-looking car, but God, those body fits!"

"Ah, you like those?"

"Yeah. I wish we could get close to that at Chrysler."

"I'll give you the recipe. I called all the body engineers, stamping people, manufacturing, and executives into my conference room. And I said, 'I am tired of all these lousy body fits. You have six weeks to achieve world-class body fits. I have all your names. If we do not have good body fits in six weeks, I will replace all of you. Thank you for your time today.' "

"That's how you did it?"

"Yes. And it worked."

That's the way he [Piech] ran everything. It's what I call a reign of terror and a culture where performance was driven by fear and intimidation. He just says, "You will sell diesels in the U.S., and you will not fail. Do it, or I'll find somebody who will." The guy was absolutely brutal.

I imagine that at some point, the VW engineering team said to Piëch, "We don't know how to pass the emissions test with the hardware we have." The reply, in that culture, most likely was, "You will pass! I demand it! Or I'll find someone who can do it!"

In these situations, your choice was immediate dismissal or find a way to pass the test and pay the consequences later. Human nature being what it is—if it's lose your job today for sure or lose your job maybe a year from now, we always pick maybe a year from now.

That management style gets short-term results, but it's a culture that's extremely dangerous. Look at dictators. Dictators invariably wind up destroying the very countries they thought their omniscience and omnipotence would make great. It's fast and it's efficient, but at huge risk.

This diesel fiasco is immeasurable in terms of damages—so much worse than Toyota acceleration, Ford Firestone tires, or GM ignition switches. In all those cases, tragically, people died, but it wasn't premeditated. You settle with the victims' families, pay the fine, put in the new parts, and for $1.5 billion, it can all be contained. But this Volkswagen mess is like the disaster that keeps on giving.

To make the cars legal in the U.S., VW will need to program them with the software that passes the test, in which case, performance is down and fuel consumption is up, and every VW TDI owner is part of a class-action suit against Volkswagen. To retrofit a urea system is basically a nonstarter, as it would require far too much change.

There is no easy fix. But you can probably rely on the German government to do what is necessary to pull Volkswagen out of this crisis.

In terms of marketing cars in the U.S., Volkswagen will need a radically new array of products that are much closer to mainstream American tastes than what it has. The whole "Clean Diesel" campaign, as the foundation of the VW brand, cannot be resurrected. It's history.

Robert "Bob" Lutz

[RSD501]

I have mixed feelings about the settlement. I have a 2013 TDI that qualifies for the buyback. I really like the car and it will be missed. On the other hand, the compensation will be really nice. We all have cheated, VW cheated big and got caught. My only reason for buying the VW was the TDI economy, and the wagon features. I am disappointed that there isn't another vehicle that fits two kids and a dog, and can earn 42 MPG. A Tesla is too much money, and a volt is too small.

[kscarbel2]

21 hours ago, RSD501 said:

I have mixed feelings about the settlement. I have a 2013 TDI that qualifies for the buyback. I really like the car and it will be missed. On the other hand, the compensation will be really nice. We all have cheated, VW cheated big and got caught. My only reason for buying the VW was the TDI economy, and the wagon features. I am disappointed that there isn't another vehicle that fits two kids and a dog, and can earn 42 MPG. A Tesla is too much money, and a volt is too small.

If you're me and carefully choose a new vehicle that you're absolutely thrilled with, a vehicle you can and will drive for 10 to 20 years, I suggest you ignore the settlement AND recall notices, and continue with the car you have and enjoy for many years to come.

Over the next several years, changes are going to rapidly come to the light vehicle industry. If you don't "need" a new car, there's a strong argument for you to sit tight. Battery pricing, size and weight is falling quickly, and battery capacity is rapidly rising. And, don't give up on the gasoline and diesel engines just yet.   

[TeamsterGrrrl]

On the ethical issues, I can now see why Ford tested diesel cars in the U.S. but hasn't sold them here, and why the diesel Cruze has such drivability problems- Ford figured out that it would be too expensive to comply with our EPA regs, and GM had done the best they could under the EPA rules with the Cruze. VW? They just cheated! Was reading up a bit on VW's ethics policy the other day, and you'd think they'd have toughened it a bit. But little has changed. BMW's been having ethics problems in their purchasing too, reportedly since then their buyers have been told to consider durability as well as price in their purchasing decisions... That may explain why BMW motorcycles have become such lemons.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

I've got a 2013 Jetta (Golf) Sportswagon (Variant) too. I'd prefer to keep it, but the buyback for almost new price is too tempting to resist. But if I can't buy an equivalent diesel wagon, I may keep the TDI... Without redeeming features like the TDI diesel, VW's are just overly expensive cars to maintain that break too much.

[kscarbel2]

I buy a new car for 10 years minimum, if not 20. Seriously. I take meticulous care of it, like you probably do as well, I choose carefully. If I was you, knowing what we know at this juncture, I'd keep your diesel Sportswagon and ignore any parts or software recalibration recalls.

I'm looking ahead at both the US market Ranger and Everest, but that remains to be seen. I assume we'll see the 5-cylinder 3.2L diesel since the Transit is already here with it, but the standard 4-cylinder 2.2L diesel has abundant power and still better fuel economy. So many of the cars and trucks I like aren't available in the US market, or aren't available with a diesel in the US.

You could ask your M-B dealer if the GLC300d is still coming.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

I do similar, buy a new car every 10 years or so, the old one becomes a spare so I usually get at least 20 years use out of them. Besides the '13 TDI, I've got a "03 Golf TDI and a '98 Ranger 4x4. Same with the bikes, have a '13 Yamaha Super Tenere, '07 BMW F800S, '01 Buell M2L, '00 Guzzi Quota, and 3 BMW "airheads". All run except the F800S that I'm trying to find a permanent fix for it's failing stators and one of the airheads that's apart to get it's frame repainted.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

No MB diesels for 2017 in the U.S., not even in a Sprinter. May be no 2017 light duty diesels, period- the EPA has been dragging their feet on emissions certifying diesels.

[kscarbel2]

11 minutes ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

No MB diesels for 2017 in the U.S., not even in a Sprinter. May be no 2017 light duty diesels, period- the EPA has been dragging their feet on emissions certifying diesels.

Both the engines offered in the Sprinter, the 2.1L 4-cylinder and 3.0 V6, are diesels. They can put off diesel light vehicle sales, but the Sprinter show must go on.

M-B broke ground on the new US$500 million Sprinter plant in North Charleston, South Carolina on July 27 this year.

To be clear, they're adding onto the existing SKD assembly facility, adding body manufacturing, painting and final assembly lines. They're reportedly going to start hiring people in "mid-2017".

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  November 2, 2016

Volkswagen's supervisory board will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday, Nov. 4, to consult on a wide-ranging restructuring of the carmaker.

Management and labour leaders are seeking to agree on cost cuts and investments that will form part of the German carmaker's efforts to revive its fortunes more than a year after the diesel emissions scandal broke.

Two weeks before the supervisory board is scheduled to ratify spending plans for the multi-brand group through 2021, the sheer number of issues facing the 20-member panel on Nov. 18 made the extraordinary meeting necessary.

Europe's largest carmaker is under pressure to make cuts at high-cost operations in Germany to help to pay for a shift to electric cars and autonomous driving while still dealing with billions of euros in costs for the emissions scandal.

Herbert Diess, head of Volkswagen's (VW) namesake brand, wants to cut annual costs at the troubled division by 3.7 billion euros ($4.11 billion) through 2021 in a so-called future pact with workers [Merely scratching the surface].

But VW's powerful works council* [union], whose members occupy almost half the seats on the supervisory board, have said they will support cut backs without a commitment from management to fixed targets and quotas for products, output and investment. [In today’s auto world, nothing can be “fixed”......every new day is evolving].

When announcing VW's post-dieselgate transformation plan in June, Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said the overhaul would require a double-digit billion amount of investment, funded by an efficiency drive aimed at delivering around 8 billion euros in annual savings.

VW's two profit engines Audi and Porsche, will be under particular pressure to cut costs.

* VW Group is the most inefficient "car" manufacturer in the world, all due to Germany's social welfare policies and its co-determination act of 1976 (Mitbestimmungsgesetz) which requires that half the seats on a company's board be held by Works Council (union) members (companies with over 2,000 employees).

[kscarbel2]

VW says defeat device conforms with European law

Reuters  /  November 4, 2016

Volkswagen Group says the software allowing its diesel vehicles to evade emissions rules does not violate European law, as the automaker aims to toughen its legal defenses in view of a possible rise in compensation claims in its home region.

The European Commission (EC) has been raising the pressure on VW to compensate owners of rigged cars in Europe, where the majority of affected vehicles are registered.

VW has rejected such calls but is offering cash payouts to drivers in the U.S. where it admitted to manipulating diesel emissions tests more than a year ago.

Last month, a Spanish court for the first time ruled in favor of a VW customer and imposed a fine on VW's local units, leading Spanish consumer lobbies to urge other people with affected cars to join a class-action lawsuit against VW.

After fending off suggestions that it may have breached European consumer rules in connection with the scandal, VW says the very technology which led it to incur up to $16.5 billion in U.S. settlement costs is compliant with European rules.

"The software contained in vehicles with a EA-189 engine in the view of Volkswagen represents no unlawful defeat device under European law," VW said on Thursday. "The efficiency of the emissions cleanup system will not be reduced in those vehicles which however would be a prerequisite for the existence of an unlawful defeat device in the legal sense."

Although VW believes the software complies with European law, it will continue to follow the order of Germany's KBA motor vehicle authority and refit the affected cars for reasons of goodwill.

"Volkswagen wants to - in the special interest of customers - cooperate constructively and cooperatively hand in hand with the regulators as well as with the Federal Motor Vehicle Authority," VW said. "This intensive cooperation should not be burdened by a contentious dispute."

Separately, VW denied views held by Germany's Federal Environmental Agency and other health lobbies that nitrogen oxides are harmful to human health and the environment. "A reliable determination of morbidity or even fatalities for certain demographic groups based on our level of knowledge is not possible from a scientific point of view," VW said.

[kscarbel2]

Volkswagen Scandal Takes New Twist With Audi Cheating-Software Claim

The Wall Street Journal  /  November 6, 2016

California authorities say Audi engines were rigged to produce lower CO2 emissions in tests than on road

Volkswagen’s efforts to resolve its emissions-cheating scandal faced a potential setback Sunday with a fresh allegation that California authorities discovered cheating software on popular Audi models, while the company said a German criminal investigation has widened to include its chairman.

Officials from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) discovered four months ago [Why are we only just now told....after the June settlement?] that some Audi engines were rigged to produce lower CO2 emissions in labs than in normal road use, potentially opening a new front in U.S. and European investigations.

Volkswagen, Audi and CARB officials [secretly] discussed the allegation “some months ago.”

The allegation is the latest twist in a broader scandal that has embroiled Volkswagen. U.S. environmental authorities disclosed on Sept. 18, 2015 that the company installed software on about 500,000 diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. that American authorities consider illegal. Volkswagen later admitted to installing the software on nearly 11 million vehicles world-wide.

Volkswagen agreed in June to a $14.7 billion settlement with state authorities and owners of 475,000 two-liter diesel vehicles affected in the U.S. The company is still in talks about a settlement for owners of 85,000 vehicles with three-liter diesel engines that were built by Audi, its luxury-car unit.

The Volkswagen diesel scandal involved the hiding of excessive emissions of smog-producing nitrogen oxides. The new allegation focuses on carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

U.S. environmental officials caught Audi’s alleged cheating through lessons from the Volkswagen investigation. CARB technicians conducting lab tests on Audi’s vehicles made them react as if on a road by turning the steering wheel. When they deviated from lab conditions, the CO2 emissions rose dramatically.

The account was confirmed by two people.

The Audi defeat device was discussed in some detail in the second half of February 2013 by Volkswagen’s top brass during the annual test drive of new cars in South Africa, dubbed “Summer Drive.”

According to the minutes, Axel Eiser, the head of Audi’s powertrain division, said, “The shifting program needs to be configured so that it runs at 100% on the treadmill but only 0.01% with the customer.”

Audi refused requests for comment from Mr. Eiser.

Such test drives were elite events at Volkswagen. That Audi’s CO2 cheat was openly discussed by the company’s most senior management could increase criticism that Volkswagen insiders are still in positions of power at the company and able to influence the investigation.

That Audi was allegedly cheating on CO2 emissions is likely to be of most interest to European officials. The issue came up earlier this year when Volkswagen admitted that 800,000 cars sold in Europe had understated CO2 emissions, only to recant later and promise to pay any bill for any customer who is required to pay additional taxes for higher CO2 emissions than stated in the vehicle’s paperwork.

The new allegation says hundreds of thousands of gasoline and diesel Audi A6 and A8 sedans and Q5 sport-utility vehicles equipped with the AL551 automatic transmission contain software calibrated to cheat on emissions tests and have higher CO2 emissions than allowed by law.

The allegation could also raise fresh questions in Europe, where regulators have been stricter on greenhouse gases than on nitrogen oxides. Volkswagen insists that its software didn’t violate European law.

In Germany, Volkswagen hasn’t been charged with any breach of law. Criminal and civil lawsuits are instead focusing on whether Volkswagen’s management violated securities law or committed fraud and should be held liable for damages suffered by investors and consumers.

Prosecutors in the city of Braunschweig, near the company’s headquarters, have widened their investigation to include Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch. Investigators say Volkswagen management willfully kept the company’s shareholders in the dark about the U.S. diesel investigation and the potential financial risks.

Before becoming chairman in September 2015, Mr. Pötsch was Volkswagen’s finance chief, responsible for communications with financial markets. He became chairman in a management shake-up following the diesel disclosure.

News of the U.S. investigation last year sparked a massive selloff in Volkswagen shares, causing the company to lose 35% of its market value by Sept. 22, when Volkswagen first warned investors of financial risks in light of the U.S. investigation. Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn resigned under pressure the next day.

Mr. Winterkorn and Herbert Diess, the head of Volkswagen’s passenger car brand, are also named in the Braunschweig investigation.

Mr. Diess has acknowledged the investigation but declined to comment. Mr. Winterkorn has declined to comment through his attorney.

Volkswagen faces nearly $9 billion in damages claims from hundreds of investors, including Calpers of the U.S., Norway’s huge oil fund, and several German states that hold Volkswagen shares. The plaintiffs allege that Volkswagen’s top executives intentionally withheld information from shareholders, who later suffered huge losses when Volkswagen’s shares plunged.

Volkswagen said no evidence has emerged to suggest that the company’s management failed to disclose the diesel issue to markets as early as possible, saying the company reaffirmed its belief that its management board “duly fulfilled its disclosure obligation under German capital markets law.”

[kscarbel2]

German KBA greenlights 29 cent Volkswagen fix for 1.6-liter EA 189 TDI engines

Green Car Congress  /  November 5, 2016

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has approved Volkswagen’s technical solutions for 2.6 million vehicles equipped with the EA 189 1.6-liter TDI engines affected by the emissions-cheating issue. The modification in the case of the EA 189 1.6-liter TDI engines involves a software update.

In addition, a [magic 29 cent] flow conditioner (aka. flow transformer) is being fixed directly upstream of the air mass meter. The implementation will take less than an hour of working time.

Implementation can soon begin on the first of the vehicles of this third and final engine size. The vehicle owners will be notified in succession over the coming weeks. All affected customers can then book their vehicle in for the modification at an authorized workshop at a time of their choosing.

The KBA has said without qualification that the implementation of the technical solutions for these models causes no detrimental changes to fuel consumption levels, performance data or noise emissions. The KBA had previously already affirmed this for all other models approved for the recall. After the modification, the vehicles also fulfil all statutory requirements and the duly applicable emissions standards.

The modification of vehicles with affected 2.0-liter TDI engines began back at the start of the year. The implementation of the technical solutions for affected models with EA 189 1.2-liter TDI engines is also under way. With KBA approval now having been given for the final engine size group as well, work will shortly begin on the modification for vehicles with the affected EA 189 engine. It is thus now possible to bring affected models with 1.2-liter, 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter TDI engines up to due standard.

In Germany customers are being informed in a two-stage process. In stage one, all of the owners concerned were already notified this spring that their vehicle is affected by the modification program through a letter agreed with the authorities. As soon as the technical solutions for a model have been approved and are available, the customers are being asked in a second written communication to book their vehicle in with a partner business of their choice. This communication has now been sent to the owners of vehicles with the 1.6-liter TDI engine as well.

The vehicles affected are technically safe and roadworthy. Between now and their modification, they can continue to be used on the road without any restrictions. The required technical solutions are being implemented across Europe based on a schedule and action plan agreed with the KBA.

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VW's surreal fix turns Dieselgate drama into a comedy

Automotive News  /  November 16, 2015

Two months into its Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen says it finally has found a silver-bullet solution.

In receiving the blessing of the KBA, Germany's type approval authority, to clean up hazardous emissions from the 1.6-liter diesel, VW has now resolved the hardest aspect of its massive recall as that specific engine required technical modifications.

Not only does the proposed new component bring the cars into compliance in Europe, VW Group believes the fix will not even impede fuel efficiency or engine output.

Fitted directly in front of the air mass sensor, this part is equipped with a mesh that calms the swirled air flow and thus decisively improves accuracy when measuring current air mass throughput, a very important parameter for optimum combustion. That last passage is taken almost word for word from the company's statement.

Pretty darn impressive even if I have absolutely no clue what that means.

The component comes complete with a cool name, too – “flow transformer." It sounds kind of like the fictional Flux Capacitor that allowed a DeLorean to travel through time in the 1980s film "Back to the Future."

VW even put quotes around the name, as I just did, as if they patented the whole idea in the first place. In German it's even better since you can squish the two words together to form Stroemungstransformator.

All I can say is, "Wow!"

So imagine my surprise after watching the company's helpful accompanying video on its website. When a bookish-looking VW manager complete with a properly long job title -- head of diesel development of derivatives and fuel injections systems -– explained the merits of said device as he held it up to the camera for all to see, I was stunned.

Here is a German engineer who can probably plot the torque and horsepower curves of his engines from memory cradling in both hands a plastic tube as if were pure gold.

Low-tech doesn't even begin to describe a part that looks more like something a plumber might install in a kitchen sink to keep it from clogging.

Granted, the media had already reported that VW was working on a low-cost solution, but these days something as comparatively complex as DRAM memory chips manufactured under the most stringent cleanroom conditions can cost only a few dollars each.

VW still doesn’t have an answer for its U.S. diesels, but can you imagine then how the less-trusting Environmental Protection Agency might react had it, and not the KBA, been confronted with VW's Flux Capacitor? Sorry … “flow transformer."

Of course just because it looks cheap doesn’t mean it won’t work. -- I have to assume it does. Volkswagen cannot possibly be dumb enough to announce a fix that doesn't work. They know that environmental advocacy and consumer rights groups won't take them at their word, preferring instead to carry out their own tests to verify the authenticity of VW's claim.

There’s no reason a fix should be ludicrously expensive either, but at least retrofitting all engines with completely different injection nozzles as VW Group CEO Matthias Mueller had initially warned might lead one to understand why engineers were not forming lines to be the bearer of bad news.

Given that, the implication of the fix is truly staggering.

For most of the 8.5 million illegal diesels on European roads, all Volkswagen had to do to ensure it was not breaking the law, polluting the environment or deceiving customers was simply update their software?

And for the rest – the 1.6-liter versions that required technical modifications –- a quick run to their local do-it-yourself chain to pick up a plastic drain trap would have sufficed? Total service time required according to VW: less than one hour, if that. It's almost surreal.

The whole scandal is beginning to sound more and more like a very, very expensive exercise in tragicomedy.

.

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  November 7, 2016

Illinois filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen for tampering with emissions controls in Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles, becoming the 19th U.S. state to take legal action against the German automaker.

The complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court by Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday, charges the company's American unit and seeks civil penalties for violations of state environmental laws.

The German carmaker admitted last year to cheating U.S. vehicles emissions tests using sophisticated software.

About 29,800 cars sold in Illinois were affected, Madigan said.

 

[kscarbel2]

Volkswagen Wary Trump Election May Disrupt Diesel-Settlement Talks

Bloomberg  /  November 9, 2016

Volkswagen AG expressed concern that Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president could disrupt talks to reach a settlement with U.S. authorities over the German automaker’s cheating on emissions tests for diesel cars.

“I hope the election result won’t have more negative consequences for Volkswagen,” Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said Wednesday.

While Volkswagen has agreed to a $14.7 billion civil settlement covering 480,000 cars with 2.0-liter diesel engines, the company still faces criminal penalties and has yet to reach a deal on about 80,000 cars with tainted 3.0-liter motors. A delay in the talks would prolong the scandal and complicate Volkswagen’s efforts to emerge from the crisis, which erupted in September 2015.

“The election of Donald Trump causes me great concern,” Stephan Weil, prime minister of the German state of Lower Saxony and member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board, said [arrogantly]. “Trump’s first task should be to bridge the existing divides -- that he himself deepened during the past weeks -- and carry out his duties with prudence and care.”

[TeamsterGrrrl]

When it comes to international relations, even with allies, Trump is going to be "trying", can't argue with the PM there. But unless he decides to penalize Germany as well as Mexico and China, Trump's administration will probably go easier on VW. As far as VW getting out of the 2 liter TDI settlement, that's a done deal that could only be undone by the agreement of all concerned, and the trial lawyers ain't gonna let that happen. But a Trump tariff on Mexican assembled new VWs could hurt VW's prospects for putting owners of the bought back TDIs into new VWs.

[kscarbel2]

VW Accused of Concealing Emissions Cheating in Audi Gasoline Cars

Bloomberg  /  November 10, 2016

Volkswagen’s plot to cheat emissions tests by installing so-called defeat devices in its vehicles wasn’t limited to diesel cars, but also included at least six models of Audi 3.0-liter gasoline engines, according to a consumer lawsuit.

In a class action on behalf of owners of more than 100,000 vehicles, the German carmaker’s Audi unit is accused of installing software designed to beat emissions tests in its A6, A8, Q5 and Q7 cars since February 2013 and possibly earlier.

Audi executives encouraged use of the devices in gasoline-powered vehicles as recently as May, eight months after the diesel cheating was publicly disclosed, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Chicago federal court.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan and Audi spokesman Mark Clothier refused to comment on the complaint.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer gave his final approval to VW’s $14.7 billion settlement covering 480,000 diesel cars with 2.0-liter engines, widely seen as a benchmark achievement for the carmaker.

VW still doesn’t have an approved way to fix any of the 560,000 cars still polluting U.S. roads.

The automaker faces a potential trial with owners of 3.0-liter diesel cars in the U.S., in addition to shareholder claims, environmental lawsuits by multiple states and criminal investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and European authorities.

“Throughout the yearlong dieselgate scandal, Audi chose to continue to deceive consumers across the country with yet another emissions-cheating device installed in even more of its vehicles,” said attorney Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the Seattle-based firm representing consumers in Wednesday’s complaint “This kind of flagrant disregard for federal environmental regulations and consumers’ expectations is unacceptable, and we intend to hold Audi to the law on behalf of those who overpaid for Audi’s noncompliant, polluting cars.”

While the algorithm-based defeat device in diesel cars would veil the vehicle’s real emissions, the gas cars are capable of detecting that the vehicle is in a testing bay and then shifts into “low rev” mode, according to the complaint.

“This modified shifting scheme effectively falsifies the vehicle’s emissions and fuel efficiency results by keeping the engine RPM artificially low, thereby using less fuel and emitting less carbon dioxide," Audi owners alleged in the complaint.

The consumers seek unspecified damages including restitution from Audi’s sales and profit.

This case is Stokar v. Audi of America LLC, 16-cv-10456, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Sounds like they're suing VW Group's Audi because their transmission does the same "adaptive shifting" as virtually every other automatic built in the last couple decades. 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Another wrench being thrown into this whole deal is the coming split between Trump's gutted EPA and the "CARB states". What are the CARB states?

"Due to its preexisting standards and particularly severe motor vehicle air pollution problems in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the U.S. state of California has special dispensation from the federal government to promulgate its own automobile emissions standards. Other states may choose to follow either the national standard or the stricter California standards. States adopting the California standards include Arizona (2012 model year),^[1] Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico (2011 model year), New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.^[2][3] Such states are frequently referred to as "CARB states" in automotive discussions because the regulations are defined by the California Air Resources Board.

The EPA has adopted the California emissions standards as a national standard by the 2016 model year^[4] and is collaborating with California regulators on stricter national emissions standards for model years 2017–2025.^[5]"

So when Trump's EPA approves a fix for the TDI emissions cheat, the CARB states may not go along, and VW will lose some big markets for their fixed bought back TDIs. This is also why if Trump weakens emissions rules, most manufacturers won't exercise the option to produce trucks to meet the weakened standards- It's just not worth it to build different trucks that can't even enter the biggest ports and markets in the U.S..