German Automakers 'Rearrange' Staff After Newest Diesel-related Scandal, Audi Employees See Homes Raided

by Matt Posky

January 31st, 2018 3:53 PM

german automakers 8216 rearrange staff after newest diesel related scandal audi

Daimler AG and BMW group suspended or moved several employees linked to a group that was commissioned for research that involved exposing monkeys and humans to potentially harmful gases. While the nature of these tests may not be extraordinary or illegal, the public response has been one of outrage.

Volkswagen suspended chief lobbyist Thomas Steg earlier this week for similar reasons, but the other automakers have now followed suit in the hopes of quelling public anger. The automakers haven’t kept silent on the matter, either. High-ranking executives have called the research repugnant, suggesting that the ethics employed by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT) were unacceptable.

BMW said it will remove its representative on the EUGT’s management board from his current functions, pending an investigation into EUGT’s research by the automaker’s legal team. Daimler claimed it would suspend at least one employee linked to the scandal while an externally hired law firm investigates the diesel-related testing. Neither company confirmed the names of the employees.

Meanwhile, German prosecutors raided the homes of several Audi staff members (both current and former) in connection to VW Group’s earlier emissions-cheating scandal. The “official visits” took place on Wednesday at roughly the same time the Stuttgart prosecutor’s office said two employees from Robert Bosch were under investigation on suspicion of fraud. That case ties back to another probe, which aims to uncover if Fiat Chrysler Automobiles used hidden software to allow excessive diesel emissions on 3.0-liter diesel versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500.

As a major auto parts supplier, Bosch has previously been accused of creating the software that allowed Volkswagen to skirt diesel emission testing and regulations. The company has supported the ongoing investigations, cooperating fully with the responsible authorities.

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TW5 on Feb 01, 2018

The only 100% guaranteed result of implementing new regulations: People will go to jail

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- JD-Shifty on Feb 03, 2018
  
  That's the most ridiculous thing I've seen typed today. "We had to cheat".derp. Diesel should be dead in 1st world countries except for heavy freight
  
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AtoB on Feb 04, 2018

"While the nature of these tests may not be extraordinary or illegal, the public response has been one of outrage." This reminds me a bit of the horrible Heath/Tulane Marijuana Study but without the outrage.

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Nrd515 I bought an '88 S10 Blazer with the 4.3. We had it 4 years and put just about 48K on it with a bunch of trips to Nebraska and S. Dakota to see relatives. It had a couple of minor issues when new, a piece of trim fell off the first day, and it had a seriously big oil leak soon after we got it. The amazinly tiny starter failed at about 40K, it was fixed under some sort of secret warranty and we got a new Silverado as a loaner. Other than that, and a couple of tires that blew when I ran over some junk on the road, it was a rock. I hated the dash instrumentation, and being built like a gorilla, it was about an inch and a half too narrow for my giant shoulders, but it drove fine, and was my second most trouble free vehicle ever, only beaten by my '82 K5 Blazer, which had zero issues for nearly 50K miles. We sold the S10 to a friend, who had it over 20 years and over 400,000 miles on the original short block! It had a couple of transmissions, a couple of valve jobs, a rear end rebuild at 300K, was stolen and vandalized twice, cut open like a tin can when a diabetic truck driver passed out(We were all impressed at the lack of rust inside the rear quarters at almost 10 years old, and it just went on and on. Ziebart did a good job on that Blazer. All three of his sons learned to drive in it, and it was only sent to the boneyard when the area above the windshield had rusted to the point it was like taking a shower when it rained. He now has a Jeep that he's put a ton of money into. He says he misses the S10's reliablity a lot these days, the Jeep is in the shop a lot.
Jeff S Most densely populated areas have emission testing and removing catalytic converters and altering pollution devices will cause your vehicle to fail emission testing which could effect renewing license plates. In less populated areas where emission testing is not done there would probably not be any legal consequences and the converter could either be removed or gutted both without having to buy specific parts for bypassing emissions. Tampering with emission systems would make it harder to resell a vehicle but if you plan on keeping the vehicle and literally running it till the wheels fall off there is not much that can be done if there is no emission testing. I did have a cat removed on a car long before mandatory emission testing and it did get better mpgs and it ran better. Also had a cat gutted on my S-10 which was close to 20 years old which increased performance and efficiency but that was in a state that did not require emission testing just that reformulated gas be sold during the Summer months. I would probably not do it again because after market converters are not that expensive on older S-10s compared to many of the newer vehicles. On newer vehicles it can effect other systems that are related to the operating and the running of the vehicle. A little harder to defeat pollution devices on newer vehicles with all the systems run by microprocessors but if someone wants to do it they can. This law could be addressing the modified diesels that are made into coal rollers just as much as the gasoline powered vehicles with cats. You probably will still be able to buy equipment that would modify the performance of a vehicles as long as the emission equipment is not altered.
ToolGuy I wonder if Vin Diesel requires DEF.(Does he have issues with Sulfur in concentrations above 15ppm?)
ToolGuy Presented for discussion: https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper2/thoreau/civil.html
Kevin Ford can do what it's always done. Offer buyouts to retirement age employees, and transfers to operating facilities to those who aren't retirement age. Plus, the transition to electric isn't going to be a finger snap one time event. It's going to occur over a few model years. What's a more interesting question is: Where will today's youth find jobs in the auto industry given the lower employment levels?