Germany is Starting To Resent That We Got Volkswagen In Trouble (Video)

by Aaron Cole

Updated: December 22nd, 2020 Published: December 7th, 2015

My German begins and ends with “nein” but I don’t need to know much to see what’s going on in this video.

According to the New York Times, sentiment in Germany is starting to build that American regulators are being unfairly harsh with Volkswagen in an effort to bolster domestic manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors and Ram.

The Environmental Protection Agency notified Volkswagen in September that its cars used an illegal “defeat device” to skirt emissions laws. Since then, the automaker has been caught up in an international scandal that has cost the automaker billions and damaged the reputation for Germany’s largest exporter.

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller is set to deliver an interim report Thursday on the automaker’s internal investigation. According to AFP, up to 50 employees have come forward to talk about the widespread cheating scandal that the automaker admitted to after the EPA’s notification in September.

According to the New York Times, some in Germany have openly questioned whether the automaker and authorities could thoroughly investigate such a key component of that country’s economy.

“I don’t have confidence it will be a tough investigation,” Caren Lay, a leader of the Left Party, told the New York Times.

Even with the skepticism, some in Germany have envisioned Volkswagen and Germany, and the U.S. and its regulators ducking to their respective corners ahead of a perceived fight.

“There is this general notion that the U.S. is overstating the case in order to damage one of the major competitors of the U.S. carmakers,” Nils Stieglitz, a professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance, told the Gray Lady.

Which probably precipitated the video here, shown on German national TV, and characterizes Volkswagen’s deception as minor compared to “rolling coal” and women with guns and stuff. Which, sure — we’ll give you that.

But it’s hard to argue that regulators in the U.S. were the ones who installed the devices on cars around the world and then forced VW to lie about it for six years. Just a thought.

#Diesel #Emissions #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #Germany #MatthiasMüller #RollingCoal #Volkswagen #VwDieselScandal #ZDF

Aaron Cole

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Wheatridger on Dec 08, 2015

The Germans make a good point about America's double standards. While we demand diesel cars run cleaner than a baby's breath, when it comes to "light trucks." anything goes. Every safety and emissions standard is relaxed for them, as if they were agricultural implements used in remote areas and limited numbers, not the primary choice for common commuters that they really are. The second point is valid, too. though hard to prove. The health damage of ozone pollution is realm, but hard to quantify. Its easier to name and count those killed or maimed by bad air bags and ignition switches.

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- Hummer on Dec 08, 2015
  
  How does anything go for light trucks? Current light truck (2500-3500) diesels are nearly $10,000 options with more unreliable components than ever, if a little dirt gets past the fuel filter your going to spring for new injectors, and it's not a secret how much those cost. These trucks are straddled with DEF fluid tanks just like all the other diesels. --- "as if they were agricultural implements used in remote areas and limited numbers" When's the last time you bought a diesel tractor, they're all straddled with emissions equipment now as well.
  
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- VCplayer on Dec 08, 2015
  
  I think it's important to understand that trucks aren't being given the leeway they used to have anymore. Also, exceptions for trucks have tended to be more about fuel economy, which despite its similarity is a completely different issue. The difference with GM has always been that GM didn't intentionally design a malfunctioning key lock, and as far as anyone can tell didn't intentionally cover it up either. They were fined, IIRC, the maximum they could be under the law, mostly because of the incompetence they displayed in realizing that hey had created a huge problem. Edit: Pretty sure trucks don't have any kind of exemptions from safety equipment any more either.
  
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- Drzhivago138 on Dec 08, 2015
  
  @Hummer That, along with other factors, seems to be why my father isn't interested in anything newer than an interim Tier IV machine--right now, we're toying with replacing our two 45-year-old "toy tractors" with a single 20-year-old "large utility" (JD 6000 Series) that can actually run the rake all day without overheating. I do not oppose the use of DEF or other tech to reduce diesel emissions, but I understand the frustration a lot of farmers feel from the increased financial burden that they "have" to pay. So in the interest of not letting tempers flare up unnecessarily, I don't take them to task on it.
  
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Jasper2 on Dec 09, 2015

Is EPA also responsible for debunking Vee Dubbayou's solution to "fix" the problem? Or is the "fix" just another type of pollution?? Ist EPA auch zur Entlarvung Vee Dubbayou Lösung zu "reparieren" das Problem verantwortlich? Oder ist der "Fix" nur eine andere Art von Verschmutzung ??

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- RideHeight on Dec 10, 2015
  
  You gotta love a word like Verschmutzung!
  
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