Volkswagen Diesel Scandal BY AMRITH SIVAPRAKASH HIMASAMHITA KANCHARLA

Volkswagen Diesel Scandal BY AMRITH SIVAPRAKASH HIMASAMHITA KANCHARLA ROHIT SHANKAR SHRIYASH JANWE (GROUP 4)

WHAT WENT WRONG?

In a perfect engine, oxygen in the air would convert all hydrogen to water and fuel carbon to carbon dioxide. In reality however, engines emit several types of pollutants. Volkswagen’s engines were known for their great fuel economy but their engines could stay within pollutant emission limits only when more diesel was being burnt, which would wreck the mileage. According to New York Times, in 2008, VW had discovered that the new ‘clean diesel’ engines it spent years developing would fail US and EU modern air quality standards by significant margins.

To clear their pollutant-vomiting cars through testing, VW installed ‘defeat devices’ in their diesel cars, roughly around 11 million in number from 2009 onwards. The defeat devices would sense emission testing procedures, and adjust engine output to reduce the pollutant emissions. The scandal was unearthed by a team of researchers at West Virginia University who used a mobile testing rig to test the pollutant emissions of a VW Jetta and Passat while driving on road. The team published their findings in spring 2014 and their research was used by The EPA to make VW admit to the defeat device in September 2014.

WHO IS TO BE BLAMED? ENGINEERING TEAM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM SENIOR EXECUTIVES TOP MANAGEMENT

HOW BAD MANAGEMENT LEADS TO BIG PUNISHMENT Result of willful and systematic scheme of cheating by dozens of employees at all levels of the company. -New York Attorney General’s lawsuit CEO Winterkorn received two memos regarding the discrepancies between lab and on-road emissions- one in May 2014 and other Nov 2014, which he did not document Resignation of CEO Martin Winterkorn and CEO Michael Horn (American Group of VW) Rigid goals and aggressive management style resulting into fearful lower and middle level employees who were punished when unable to keep up with the pace.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION Involvement of CEO Winterkorn and Michael Horn Involvement of the Head Chairman, Hans Dieter Potsch Involvement of Audi senior executives Involvement of Senior managers at Volkswagen

REFERENCES & CITATIONS http: //www. nytimes. com/2016/07/20/business/international/volkswagen-ny -attorney-general-emissions-scandal. html? _r=0 http: //fortune. com/2016/11/07/vw-dieselgate-more-bad-news/? iid=leftrail http: //www. newyorker. com/business/ http: //www. autoblog. com/2016/04/25/vw-diesel-scandal-investigationreport/ http: //www. wsj. com/articles/volkswagen-probe-in-germany-extended-tochairman-1478429066