Here we go again, same situation, different industry. What am I talking about? Big corporates of course. This time it is the motor manufacturer VAG who has been caught playing fast and loose. OK so it won't have the same major impact on the economy as the banking crisis did, but the principles are just the same. Huge corporates believing they are able to do as they please and disregard rules and morals in pursuit of the bottom line, or if you have a more cynical view as I do, then bigger bonuses.
VAG has been caught cheating on the emissions test for their diesel engined cars. I mean it is clever of course and the facility to re-map the engine management system is well known. I know a 2 litre BMW diesel can, by simply uploading new engine management software, gain a 50HP increase or around 30% more oomph. That is a respectable increase but at the cost of fuel economy and of course greater emissions. That is the point really, we are wanting ever cleaner engines yet we are not prepared to accept the loss of performance in our pride and joy in order to achieve them.
Governments accept the figures they get and use the data to calculate the various theoretical emission levels based on the known number of vehicles on the road. They then proudly tell us that we are making strides toward greener driving as the percentage of vehicles on the road produce less pollution. But sadly this is not the case as the engine management system detects it isn't on test and so reverts to its less clean but more fun mode. If you as the consumer choose to do this to your engine then when you're caught you carry the can, but the global effect for the numbers who do have their engine mapping modified - the vast majority of car owners don't really care about doing such things themselves - is negligible.
It is a whole different ball game when the manufacturer of a vehicle makes that decision for the owner without the owners knowledge or consent. Oh and I dare to speculate that VAG are not the only motor manufacturer to adopt such tactics. They just got well and truly caught with their pants around their ankles. I hate to think what is going on in the board rooms of the other companies who have been doing the exact same thing but have yet to be exposed.
The real problem is the pursuit of profit. It is so dominant in business that such cavalier attitudes to rules and regulations, let alone the moral aspect to such decisions, is allowed nay encouraged to flourish. Ok so the pursuit of profit is true for all sizes of business, after all profit allows for product development, investment in new plant, investment in jobs, wage rises, bonuses, shareholder dividends, and so on. The trouble is that in big businesses like VAG, the seniors become complacent and start to behave in a manner that the SMEs cannot dare dream of doing. Big businesses enjoy government pandering to their needs, after all they employ huge numbers of the population and are a significant part of the country's economy. The law suits that will line up against VAG could, especially in the USA, have a serious effect on the stability of the company which will mean they need support from the public purse, just as the banks did in the UK. The people who put their company at such rise should be prosecuted to the full extend of the law and made to pay for their actions, not be given the sack, and like as not a nice golden handshake so they can swan off and enjoy an early retirement in their Mediterranean Villa. Herr Winkelmann who resigned from his post as CEO of VAG, thus washing his hands by taking such a noble action as falling on his sword, should by rights carry the can. Like the sign on the President of the United States' desk says, "The Buck Stops HERE"
The people who have the temerity to take such actions also display a total lack of morals. Their greed in the pursuit of profit seems to be at any cost, even if that cost is our planet. Governments across the world are trying to reduce the effects of global warming only to be stabbed in the back by a few corporations. Who on earth are VAG to ride roughshod over hard won goals in pollution control? I am so not impressed with the makers of the "Peoples Car".
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