On September 18th Volkswagen admitted that it cheated on its emissions for its diesel automobiles via software. Does this mean that Volkswagen and Audi, a subsidiary, will now never be trusted again? And what does it mean for the auto industry in general?
Now that it is been brought into the view of the public via the media, it shows how far a company will go to minimize its responsibilities and maximize its profits. In an USA Today article, “The EPA accused the German automaker of adopting what it called a “defeat device” to trick U.S. regulators into believing its cars met Clean Air Act standards for nitrogen oxides. Volkswagen admitted to investigators it had installed the defeat device, the EPA said.” This just shows that if you can not meet the standards it is okay in the minds of some to cheat. The CEO of Volkswagen resigned on September 23rd amid the accusations about its 4 cylinder diesel engines not meeting nitrogen emission standards. While not admitting that he knew about that someone(s) caused the false emission reading via software, he did take on the responsibility as CEO.
It has been reported that that same software is also in Audi vehicles. The EPA has directed that the vehicles produced by these companies will have to be recalled and fixed so as to comply with US auto emission standards. I am now wondering if any other company or companies have also played fast and loose with the emission rules.
The detour that Volkswagen has taken into the world of distrust by both our government and its buyers/owners has opened a vast gap that may take many years to heal over. I for one wonder if it was caused by looking only at the bottom line and not having any business ethics. To the world it has tarnished a highly thought of company and brought it down in the eyes of Wall Street investors.
Regaining the trust of both the government and buying public is going to be a long hard road. Remember that what Volkswagen has done was against us all; for they have produced many vehicles that are now polluting our environment. It will be a very long time before they can be trusted, but it will happen.
Now I must turn to the auto industry and say will we be hearing in the near future that some other automobile company has also violated our emission laws? It could happen as too many CEOs and Presidents of these companies only look at the bottom line. Hopefully more companies will also be looking to implement ethical standards that will preclude this from happening again and once again have the public’s trust.
Industry must stop just looking at the bottom line and see the whole picture. And this picture must include business ethics and not let making money be the only decision making criteria.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
