Volkswagen Diesel Emission Crisis Started With Sales Push In 2005

We told you earlier this week that VW has declared their diesel emissions crisis was smaller than was previously reported, however as details emerge from their internal investigation, not everyone is buying their story.

According to Consumer Reports, an internal investigation by Volkswagen has revealed the automaker struggled to meet “impossible” U.S. emissions standards. As the story goes, Volkswagen began a stronger push for diesel vehicles sales in the United States back in 2005. VW engineers were reportedly were under extreme pressure to meet the emissions standards in the U.S., while meeting the newly set sales goals from Volkswagen. The result, according to reports was software manipulation in an effort to satisfy emissions standards and company goals.

Consumer reports also noted a key admission in the Volkswagen internal report was how the diesel emissions defeat device works. According to CR, it worked as…”the software in question allowed the exhaust gas treatment additive “AdBlue” to be injected in variable amounts such that the NOx values were particularly low when vehicles were in the test bay, but significantly higher when vehicles were on the road.” This has subsequently been referred to as a “cheat mode.” Consumer reports mentioned some VW diesel sales will resume internationally before the end of the month, with no timeline for when that could occur in the U.S.

The info bought about by Consumer Reports stemmed from a press conference put on by Volkswagen at the Mobilelife campus in Wolfsburg. The attempt by VW to explain the findings of the internal investigation what comes next for the organization was met by some skepticism by members of the media. German news outlet Kölner Stadtanzeiger wrote about the VW presser saying in part, “Volkswagen’s leadership doesn’t want real change. It’s all about making assurances that are not being kept, assurances that have only one objective: To keep damage to the company as small as possible.”

As Volkswagen works to put out the fires from the diesel emissions crisis, they’ve noted the entire thing was overblown. Do you think their campaign to explain what occurred at Volkswagen is working to rebuild the company image or it is just a public relations strategy to keep damage to the automaker as small as possible?