Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
This isn't the first time a car maker was caught cheating just the biggest one to date.
VWAG gambled and lost...
A snippet of the article,
Quote:
GM's Cadillac Crisis
Between 1991 and 1995, GM sold approximately 470,000 Seville, DeVille, Eldorado, and Fleetwood model Cadillacs with 4.9L V8 engines that turned off the emissions control system when the driver turned on the air conditioner.
In December 1995, the Justice Department sued GM on behalf of the EPA in order to force GM to recall those vehicles. GM agreed to what amounted to a $45 million settlement, including $11 million in fines, $25 million to fix the recalled cars, and just under $9 million in a "community service" penalty.
GM allegedly designed its engine control chip to increase the amount of fuel pumped into the engine when the air conditioner was turned on. This increase in fuel overrode the emissions control system, releasing "up to 10 grams of carbon monoxide a mile with the climate control on, well above the 3.4 grams/mile limit," according to a press release from the Justice Department. In a Washington Post article (PDF) from the time, an unnamed GM executive told the paper that the company made this change to the computer chip to keep the cars from stalling when the air conditioner was turned on.
Cadillac's maker was able to equip its cars with the engine-boosting, emissions-control-defeating software without it being detected by the EPA because the Agency’s tests to certify the cars were supposed to be done with the air conditioning and heating systems off. But the EPA discovered the defeat device during "routine testing" in the fall of 1993, the Justice Department said.
Link
How much do you think of GM, Ford, and Honda now?
That other companies have cheated in the past doesnt make it ok for VW to do so. This doesnt add anything to the conversation and just serves to try and distract from the topic.
