Allegedly many major German automakers formed secret cartels in the 90s and colluded on diesel emissions.
The companies involved included Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Daimler. Allegedly they met in secret to discuss the technology, costs, suppliers, and even the exhaust gas purification of their diesel vehicles.
As a result of the cartel like activities and allegations, they are all being investigated and could result in massive fines for all the companies. As of now a spokesman for Volkswagen that also owns Audi and Porsche said that the they could not comment on speculation and conjecture. BMW has denied the allegations, and Daimler declined to make any statement.
In 2015 VW was already busted in a major scandal that lead from the these alleged meetings. Recently, Mercedes Benz-parent company Daimler recalled 3 million cars due to a similar case and is in the process of dealing with the situation. And VW subsidiary Audi also very recently recalled 850,000 vehicles fitted with a similar software update.
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UNBELIEVABLE !! I hope they get major fined for this , at the very least !
Isn't that normal for big corporations? I mean they always end up agreeing on how to more easily take money from the customer. Like the huge soda drinks companies, the oil companies etc. They always agree on prices, I guess they also would agree on other aspects too.
I work for an automotive parts manufacturer and one branch of our operations got fined $87 Million for price fixing some years ago. There was an investigation that spanned 4 countries that led up to the raid of company HQ records by the DOJ in the US and similar agencies in other countries. That was chump change compared to what happened with VW recently though. So yeah it does happen and it can go on for years before it gets caught (if it ever gets caught).
This post is so good for car lovers ;)
I wouldn't want to be in that car!!!
rip audi