Vetrano

Alexis Vetrano
Mr. Phillips
AP English Language Composition
7 December 2015
Volkswagen Scandal
Imagine living in Germany, a country that strives to protect the environment in any
necessary way (VWs Emissions Cheating Found By Curious Clean-Air Group). Imagine also
sharing this passion and leading an environment-friendly life style. In attempt to follow this goal
imagine buying a car from the company Volkswagen that is said to be one of the healthiest
models. Its low-pollution diesel engines have been praised as pro-eco (EDITORIAL: Autoindustry forces combine). Then, imagine you find that label was only a facade, a piece of fiction,
a lie. The very car you bought to participate in the improving of mother Earth is actually
damaging it more than any car within the correct legal emissions. You feel cheated and lied to by
this company, harboring feelings of anger. This is how the public felt upon learning their diesel
engine cars contained software that cheated emissions tests and allowed the vehicles to give off
more pollution than legally allowed (VWs Emissions Cheating Found by Curious Clean-Air
Group). The emissions scandal, committed by Volkswagen, adds to the worlds air pollution,
will cost them billions of dollars in fines and recalls, requires them to reshape their plans for
future projects, and has lost them their reputation and credibility as a prestigious automaker.
In more recent times, people have begun to show interest in cars that strive to be safer for
the environment and more fuel-efficient. To encourage car companies to meet this demand, the
United States, through the Clean Air Act, has regulated automobile emissions since 1973
(Summary). The Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1973 and amended in 1990, is a United

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States federal law designed to protect human health and the environment from the effects of air
pollution (Summary). Both the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) make it their jobs to see the regulations are
met. The EPA has calculated that the Volkswagen cars in question, those with diesel engines,
released up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide (31 milligrams per kilometer) under
regulations (Stockdale). The first reaction from this information was the concern of the effect
this extra nitrogen oxide would have on the environment. However, worry soon turned from the
effect it would have on the environment to the effect it would have on people.
The build-up of pollution damaging society has been an issue since industrial times. It
has all accumulated since then to cause 3.3 million deaths per year today (Borentsein). This is
why every bit adds up to matter, even an extra 10% to 40% by diesel engine Volkswagen cars.
On a global scale the effects of the extra nitrogen oxide are insignificant; however, in areas of
Volkswagens domination, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, there is concern that it
may worsen health problems (Hall). This concern is valid as the number of cars with the
cheating software is astounding. 2.4 million hurtful cars reside in Germany alone, followed by
1.2 million in the United Kingdom (Volkswagen Scandalin Two Minutes). All together, an
approximate 11 million cars exist worldwide with this software (Ewing and Mouawad). The
engineers at the corporation who caused this scandal to make their cars and their company
appear better actually may cause harm to their health and definitely have damaged and shamed
their company. The price that they will now have to pay is far greater than anything they saved
with their lie.
The debts Volkswagen has taken on will leave them drowning. They have broken EPA
rules, and trust, and have evoked anger. When EPA regulations are violated, companies must pay

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federal fines. Seeing as there are millions of cars involved in this Volkswagen scam, the cost of
reparations will be in the billions. Taking into consideration the cost of all aspects involved to
fix the fraud, including 2 billion Euros ($2.2 billion US dollars) for damage the extra Nitrogen
Oxide may do economically, and $6.7 billion Euros ($7.37 billion US dollars) for recalling and
fixing cars, the company will use up about $9.5 billion (Team). In addition, there is a risk that
the EPA could charge Volkswagen a maximum fine of $37,500 per vehicle, which adds up to $18
billion. In reality, they will more than likely settle for around $1 billion (Zhang). Even if they
are given this leeway, paying billions of dollars is no easy task and will take careful planning to
pay the debt and continue to be a dominating automaker.
The economical effects of the hoax are already starting to show. Before the company has
even begun to pay back reparations, they are losing money. Volkswagen market sales went down
by 1.2% in October when they ceased to sell cars with corrupt software in them (Team). Since
September, the share price of Volkswagen has also decreased by 30% (Volkswagens cynical
deceit). The market for Volkswagen has and will continue to drop lower. The new CEO,
Matthais Mller, has said, In the past year, we have regularly announced record new
investments, Today for good reason, that has changed, (Ewing and Mouawad). By this he has
given some foreshadowing that, for a while, sales will only plummet further for Volkswagen.
The thing for sure is that the time for new investments is not now.
Volkswagen has realized the danger and seriousness of the predicament and has begun to
take precautions. As promised, they are planning to recall over 500,000 of its cars in the United
States (Volkswagens cynical deceit about emissions), and 8.5 million of its cars in Europe
(Liakos, Perez-Maestro) during 2016. The next step after that is to find ways to save money.
Matthais Mller, the CEO, has led on to their ideas on how to do this saying, We will strictly

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prioritize all planned investments and expenditures.

As announced, anything that is not

absolutely necessary will be cancelled or postponed (Boston, Geiger). One such expenditure
was the modification of their Phaeton luxury sedan. The corporation was planning to turn the car
into a pure battery-powered electric vehicle with the intention of challenging Tesla Motors,
Inc., but the remodeling will have to wait (Boston and Geiger). These precautions will aid the
financial crisis felt by Volkswagen and those they owe debts to, but they will also inhibit
Volkswagen in their ability to compete as a top automaker. Nonetheless, Volkswagen has other
problems to contemplate as the next question is, how will Volkswagen fix the emotional damage
they have done?
Volkswagen has so far cooperated in owning up to the punishments of their crime,
although, there are many who have not come close to forgiveness. One angry customer noted
that the company has committed a brazen deception on governments and regulators, its
customers, and the broader community (Volkswagens cynical deceit). In their minds this was
not only cheating for personal benefit but an intentional deceit. It seems evidence supports this
claim as well. In the past Volkswagen has actually taken pride in their so-called green
initiative and bragged about their technology being environment-friendly with respect to their
electric or hybrid-powered vehicles, low emissions, and fuel efficiency (Volkswagens cynical
deceit). This is a claim they have not only lost, but have proved that their cars function in quite
the opposite way. The public was further aggravated to find out that Volkswagen has been
selling illegal vehicles since 2009 (Ewing and Mouawad). To worsen the matter, through
additional internal investigation, it was also discovered that carbon dioxide and fuel consumption
measurements may not have be correct, adding to the scandal (Ruddick). Based on all these
deceptions, how is the public supposed to believe their claims now? Even with this anger thrown

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at them, Volkswagen has chosen to accept the blame and consequences instead of fight it. The
first step was their apology.
It appears Volkswagen employees and overseers do feel the pain and guilt of the brazen
deception that has been committed. When this corruption came to light in September, the CEO
then, Martin Winterkorn, resigned. This is a bit curious as all those of higher authority claim to
have no prior knowledge of the act, but the fact is that people are frustrated and confused
because no one really knows who to blame except the engineers. Before stepping down, Martin
Winterkorn apologized on behalf of Volkswagen saying he was deeply sorry that we have
broken the trust of our customers and the public, (Volkswagens cynical deceit about emissions).
In addition to the apology, Volkswagen is giving $1000 to those with the cheating cars in the
form of $500 dollars in a Visa debit card and $500 in credit to use at Volkswagen (Bredemeier).
Michael Horn, heading this goodwill package thinks this is a good first step towards
regaining our customers trust, (Bredemeier). The apology and the money in reparations is
indeed a first step, but only that. Volkswagen has a lot more groveling to do before they can
approach redemption.
Volkswagen was the largest automaker in the world. Since September they have lost that
status and now face possible bankruptcy. If they manage to survive, their comeback will be long
in coming (Goodman). Their lead is now gone. Their dignity, credibility, reputation, is now
gone. Their money for plans of expansion is now gone. The only thing left to do is continue the
reparations as planned. The cooperation with the recalls and fines will win them some respect
back if for the right reasons. Some automakers that have also overstepped their boundaries
(Ferrari and Maserati) simply chose to pay the money because that was easier than actually
addressing and fixing the problems with their cars (Stockdale). Volkswagen needs to recall all

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cars with the cheating engines and pay all fines knowing that it is to take responsibility for their
actions. Punishment and supervision for the engineers who devised this plan and anyone else
involved is recommended as well. Now is the best chance for a new start and hopefully
Volkswagen has learned its better to live without deception, without corruption, and most
importantly, without lies.

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Works Cited
Borentstein, Seth. "Study: Air Pollution Kills 3.3 Million Worldwide, May Double." The Big
Story. AP, 19 Sept. 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
Boston, William, and Friederich Geiger. "Volkswagen Plans $1 Billion Cut in Next Year's Capital
Spending." WSJ. N.p., 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
Bredemeier, Ken. "VW to Offer $1,000 Payments to US Owners." VOA. N.p., 9 Nov. 2015. Web.
18 Nov. 2015.
"EDITORIAL: Auto-industry forces combine." Japan Times [Tokyo, Japan] 20 Apr. 2010.
Global Issues In Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Ewing, Jack, and Jad Mouawad. "VW Cuts Its R.&D. Budget in Face of Costly Emissions
Scandal." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
Liakos, Chris, and Laura Perez-Maestro. "Volkswagen Scandal: European Recalls Total 8.5
Million Diesel Vehicles." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 19 Nov.
2015.
Ruddick, Graham. "VW Admission Suggests Cheats Went Much Further than Emissions." The
Guardian. N.p., 3 Nov. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
Schiermeirer, Quirin. "The Science behind the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal." Nature News &
Comment. N.p., 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
Stockdale, Nancy. "Corporate Annual Fuel Economy." Issues: Understanding Controversy and
Society. ABC-CLIO,2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
"Summary of the Clean Air Act." Laws and Regulations. EPA, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

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"Tail-pipe ethics." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 25 Sept. 2015: A14. Global Issues In
Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
"Volkswagen's cynical deceit about emissions." Age [Melbourne, Australia] 28 Sept. 2015: 16.
Global Issues In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
"Volkswagen Scandal...in Two Minutes." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 25 Nov. 2015. Web.
28 Nov. 2015.
"VW's Emissions Cheating Found By Curious Clean-Air Group." YaleGlobal Online (2015).
Global Issues In Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Zhang, Benjamin. "There's No Way Volkswagen Will Pay the US $18 Billion in Fines for
Cheating on Emissions Tests." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 21 Sept. 2015.
Web. 06 Dec. 2015.