Skip to main content

Those U.S. Volkswagen Diesels Aren’t the Easiest Thing to Fix; VW Rounds Up Scandal Bill to $30 Billion

Twenty-seven billion seemed like an odd number, so Volkswagen upped the financial cost of its diesel emissions scandal to an even $30B. Actually, the extra expense comes entirely from the repair of older U.S.-market vehicles, which are proving less easy to fix than anticipated.

Because of this, VW has to rustle up some extra cash. The automaker set aside $26.7 billion to put the scandal behind it, and this latest price jump has the company pole vaulting over that marker.

This isn’t the only new grief facing VW, however. German media and The New York Times are reporting the arrest of the highest-ranking official so far — VW Group’s former powertrain chief.

A man identified by numerous sources as Wolfgang Hatz was arrested by German authorities Thursday. A former head of powertrain development, Hatz was a close confidante of group CEO Matthias Müller when the two men sat on the management board at Porsche. Hatz, who also served as head of R&D at Porsche, is being held in Munich without bail. Authorities claim the former executive poses a flight risk.

Hatz’s time at VW covers the leadup to the emissions-cheating era — he started as Audi powertrain chief in 2001 before becoming top engine boss at VW Group in 2007. That role lasted until 2012, though he stayed with the company though his role at Porsche.

There’s no doubt investigators will press Hatz for his knowledge of what other top executives knew. That’s been the case in previous arrests.

Now, back to the engines Hatz played a role in sending to all corners of the world. According to Reuters, VW will set aside an extra 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) to cover the repair-related costs. While the software changes to the 2.0-liter engines aren’t giving the company any trouble, the hardware changes (or the second step of the two-part fix) certainly are.

“We have to do more with the hardware” to bring the engines to compliance, a VW spokesman told Reuters. Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said that, given the number of vehicles affected, the cost could be as high as $6,100 per car. This is leading to worry over what unforeseen costs might stalk the company’s 3.0-liter diesel vehicles.

Back in July, after giving VW the green light for a full fix, the Environmental Protection Agency described the repair as such:

“The approved modification involves both software and hardware changes. VW will remove the defeat device software that reduced emission control effectiveness in all but emissions testing circumstances, and replace it with software that directs the emission controls to function effectively in all typical vehicle operations. VW will also replace the NOx catalyst and, for 2009 models, certain other emission control system hardware.”

This article first appeared on thetruthaboutcars.com

The post Those U.S. Volkswagen Diesels Aren’t the Easiest Thing to Fix; VW Rounds Up Scandal Bill to $30 Billion appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2yQGcFV
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers.  The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience.  So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf.  In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...
Post a Comment
Read more