Audi CEO Could Be in the Clear After Emissions Probe Grilling

I remember when you could open the hood and see the engine....

@indi500fan Being an auto mechanic today must be a lot like being a surgeon today... layers and layers of fat to get out of the way.

Was that the Audi engine that was marketed as a 3.2-liter?

@Kyree Yes, 3123cc AVK/BGN engine codes for the US market.

@Old Man Pants One of the diesel engine mfgrs sells a packaged after treatment system that a vehicle OEM can "plug in" to their design. It's essentially as large as the engine. (EGR/DEF/SCR/DPF).

@qfrog Okay...not to be confused with the 3.2-liter VR6, which actually *was* 3.2 liters and which was a wholly-different engine, for transverse-engined vehicles.

@Kyree Thanks, qfrog. I have a 2005 A6 3.2, but the engine is just 3.1 liters, and it is no VR6. I feel a little like a fraud like the people who used to ride in a five point oh, even though their Mustang's V8 had just 4.9 liters. Learn significant digits!

@qfrog Can't even tell the truth in marketing the displacement. Lied about emissions, wrongly rounded up displacement, what's next, lying about power or acceleration times? Oh, wait, they already did both, as they couldn't deliver either unless they cheated using Schummelmotor tech.

Came here to write that. Either was a direct coconspirator, with a good plausible deniability shield, or he was ignorant of what his troops were doing. Either way, as the setter of the "tone at the top", he is culpable for not sending and reinforcing a message of honesty and integrity.

"Asleep at the wheel" is an unfair charge. I wouldn't expect the CEO to be aware that the diesel engines supplied by his parent company were illegal, not would I expect him to even ask such a question. There is something in us which wants to blame the top guy for everything, since we assume they are all-knowing and all-powerful. This is done in politics, too, in which we assume the US President is directly controlling every military op and clandestine op in the world - they aren't. Usually, their underlings don't want them to know. For my part, I'm glad at least someone in the V-A-G has been cleared.

@SCE to AUX But here's the thing: Mazda and Honda both tried really hard - spending $200M in Honda's case - to make small I-4 diesel engines for the US market without use of urea. And they both failed. This is the same Honda that makes more internal combustion engines than anyone on the planet, so I think they know a little something about internal combustion. And nobody in VW/Audi leadership thought it was weird that they uniquely could sell diesels that met US regulations without urea? Nobody ever asked why? It's a little hard to believe.

VoGo, could you point me to some articles about that Japanese quest for clean diesel? Very interesting.

@Old Man Pants http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c060629-eng.html

@VoGo Most of the engines Honda makes are not subject to ANY emission controls whatsoever (think lawnmowers, generators, outboards etc), and many of them are even two-stroke. So that wouldn't necessarily add to their emissions control expertise. Let alone to their diesel engine expertise.

@SCE to AUX With great salary comes great responsibility. The buck does indeed stop at the C suite. Angelo Mozillo of Countrywide Financial tried the same defense - that he had no idea his loan originators were lying cheating scum. While he did lose his job eventually - he probably should have gone to prison. AUDI using VW supplied engines is no different that sub-contracting the manufacturing of subassemblies. Someone needs to QA the stuff coming in from the subcontractor. If the CEO of a company does not fully understand the development process of the products his company is selling, then that CEO is derelict in his duty.

@Old Man Pants Thanks, VoGo! Edit: Now hold on a ding dang minute... that article only reports Honda's stated intention as of 2006 to develop an I-4 sludge-burner for the US market. No details, no "200 million" spent specifically to that end. Oh, I get it.... "Do your own work, f*ckin' fridge." Challenge accepted.

@th009 Yeah, Honda's too inexpert to have crashed their US market over sleazy tricks.

@SCE to AUX One thing that astonished me about the military: their secrets are on a need-to-know basis. A lot of their weapons, applications and operations are unknown to the President/Commander-In-Chief. He doesn't need to know - unless he already knows enough to ask!

@th009 You know not of what you speak. Small engines are most certainly subject to emissions standards. Why do you think Stihl abandoned 2-strokes, developing the "4-mix" (4-cycle) engine?

Except the implication in the article is that Jones Day is NOT the company law firm. Rather, it is a law firm investigating VW.

@brn Jones Day was hired directly by the directors of Volkswagen. The purpose of hiring Jones Day is to identify the conspiracy inside the company without just relying on the government to do it. At this point, there's nothing left for the board to cover up. From a regulatory perspective, Volkswagen has conceded that the cars aren't compliant, and has agreed to take them off the road. The remaining question is who conspired and how it was structured. Whether or not the government accepts Jones Day's findings as fact and relies on them, the VAG board has a duty to get to the bottom of this for their business. They need to find and fire everyone in the company, and all of the vendors, who were part of this colossally expensive and damaging criminal conspiracy. If Jones Day reports falsely to VAG or another institution like a bank, a court, or a government agency, they become part of the conspiracy and are subject to the same civil and criminal penalties.

@thattruthguy I'm glad I phrased my comment the way I did. :)