2015 Volkswagen Emission Scandal

Submission 9,015

Overview

The 2015 Volkswagen Emission Scandal, also known as #DieselGate, refers to the German automaker Volkswagen Group's intentional programming of turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to provide fraudulent nitrogen oxide emissions results during laboratory testing. An estimated 11 million cars produced between 2009 and 2015 are estimated to have included programs known as "defeat devices" to manipulate data in order to meet government auto emissions requirements around the world.

Background

In May 2014, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) provided a study on live road test emissions from diesel cars to the California Resources Board, which led to regulatory investigations of Volkswagen in several countries. On September 18th, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that Volkswagen had installed defeat devices in vehicles produces from 2009 to 2015 in order to provide favorable emissions results.^[7]

Notable Developments

Volkswagen's Response

Initially, Volkswagen claimed the emissions discrepancies were the result of technical glitches. After being confronted with evidence that the cars contained "defeat devices" in early September 2015, the auto company admitted to manipulating data in emissions testing during a conference call with the United States EPA. On September 22nd, Volkswagen Groups of America CEO Michael Horn stated that the "company was dishonest with the EPA" and claimed that the board of directors only found out about the wrong doing when it became public.^[1] The following day, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned from the company.

Vehicle Recall and Fines

On September 29th, Volkswagen announced it would refit 11 million vehicles involved in the scandal starting in January 2016. Additionally the company could face up to $18 billion in fines from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Online Reaction

Following the outbreak of the scandal in mid September, Twitter users began posting about the controversy using the hashtag "#Dieselgate"^[6] (shown below).

On September 18th, YouTuber Jaxwagen uploaded a Hitler reacts video featuring subtitles referencing the Volkswagen scandal (shown below).

On September 21st, Redditor bulbaplup submitted a post about the scandal to the /r/worldnews^[2] subreddit, where it received upwards of 8,200 votes (98% upvoted) and 5,100 comments in the next six weeks. On September 23rd, the auto news blogs Wheels24^[4] and CarThrottle^[5] published articles about the online reaction to the scandal. On October 1st, Redditor beet111 uploaded a GIF titled "meanwhile at Volkswagen," featuring a man blasted in the face with soot out of a car's exhaust pipe (shown below). In one month, the GIF received upwards of 5,700 votes (92% upvoted) and 350 comments on the /r/funny^[3] subreddit.