Germany Gives VW One Week To Have A Plan On Cheating Diesels Or It Will Ban Them From The Road

Reactionary. Why don't they put a gun to VW exec's heads and threaten to kill them unless they fix the problem immediately, and save 6 days' wait?

The answer, of course, is that VW likely didn't have a Plan B sitting in someone's drawer. It's not like they spent millions of dollars researching how to do it right, queuing up all the supply chains and having the production lines ready to go for that day when they get discovered. They invested instead in their deception/cheat technology.

Personally, I'd give them 30 days to come up with the following:
- What's your plan to action
- What's your timetable to resolution
- What interim steps do you plan along the way
- What obstacles are impeding your resolution
- What can we do to help
Of course, I'd want independent validation of their answers, especially since we have that trust issue between us.

These questions are vital, especially if #4 is "we don't have the resources to fix the problem -- just doing 1/4 of the cars will bankrupt us." We want to fix the problem. We don't want to bankrupt the company and still have the problem on our hands. And fixing 11,000,000 vehicles worldwide is no trivial matter.

The EPA letter was dated Sept 18 so it will be about 20 days - enough time to figure things out. Nothing wrong with being put under the fire. 30 days would signal that "this is not that serious so go ahead take your time". I wouldn't offer any help at all. They effed it up so they need to fix it. The problem with society now is we are trending towards the unaccountable/entitlement. Germany is right to do this - no iffs ands or butts.

7msynthetic writes "...I wouldn't offer any help at all..."

In my experience, a "f*ck you" attitude doesn't bring about positive results, no matter how righteous one might feel about it! If I was heading the EPA or some powerful environmental agency, I would want VW to fix the problem, and do it right rather than stubbornly crossing my arms over my chest, and being ready to take potshots at them for not doing enough, quickly enough. I'd offer such things as our expertise if VW lacked it, accelerated access to testing facilities, and my own agents to verify (with an extra critical eye) VW's proposed fix, just to make sure that we all get it right the *first* time 'round, and that we don't get some weird scenario like discovering they passed the tests 100% legitimately, but their cars still pollute in real-world use.

Make no mistake: I don't believe we need to give VW a free pass. I just think we can arrive at a solution, a *better* solution, quicker, when everyone is working towards the same end. The desire for revenge, blame, and punishment blindsides people to attaining that solution.

It's too bad VW marketing didn't gave the foresight to put some positive spin on this software. It's too late now and VW has to own up. It's not like VW didn't know that this,was a possibility when they allowed it to be used. Their damage control isn't very good. Bottom line: they caused this problem; they need to fix it.

I think all this uproar is exactly what Volkswagen needs to ensure something like this doesn't happen again. Between the enormous fines and lengthy litigation the company is facing, the resignation of the CEO, potential criminal charges for individuals responsible, the de-listing from the Dow Sustainability Index, the stripping of awards etc. will teach Volkswagen a very important lesson.


The massive hit to earnings will be a huge wakeup call for senior management as the stock continues to get crucified.

This will be a sign for other automakers that if they violate laws they should be prepared for the worst.

The unions demand more money so they can donate it to the democrat communist party in return for corrupt back room illegal deals. This is done by the democrat party communists to to destroy the American republic.

What does you comment have to do with the demands the German Government in Making on VW? If there ever was a backrooom deal it was the one by Nj's Christie - A republican - with Exxon/Mobil - allowing them to pay a few millions in fines for Billions of dollars in ADMITTED caused damage.

But - There is simply no possible way for VW to fix all those cars in the time allotted - so this is simply being unreasonable.

The German Government realizes that their entire industrial image depends on being seen as among the best in the world.. high end, and a bit bland and predictable. This VW fiasco has revealed a nasty, almost American-style corporate side to grow at any cost, whether it be to lie, cheat, and steal. This is not how the Germans want to be seen, and I think they are willing to suffer a short term hit to their GDP and overall economy in hitting VW hard in favor of the long term health of their corporate image.

+1!

Legal actions are queuing up rapidly and German government needs to be in the lead to save-face. It is a matter of salvaging national pride and confidence in anything German.

I love German people...they have big hearts and know what punishment is needed for the people that do wrong.

Americans need to band VW w/ TDI And GM death trap pos from our roads. Put all GM murdering execs on death row. UAW drunk workers in rehab. GM engineers can't even design a ignition switch..so have them stamp plates. Shutdown GM.

But we won't do this...because in America...we don't punish criminals...we bail them out. THANKS MR. OBAMA.