So if the cure is worse than the disease what will happen?

I suppose the governments involved would attempt to moderate the punitive aspect of their response but it would be unconscionable for them, or for VW, to allow these cars to remain on the road in their present configuration. The cars need to be brought into full compliance or bought back.

I'm thinking buy-back (I believe I read somewhere that VW's announced write-down corresponds to the projected cost of a buy-back program). If it costs $6-7k per vehicle to retrofit (on some cars with residual value not much greater) and it doesn't make much sense. Moreover, they may have problems designing a retrofit into these small cars (which likely contributed to the subterfuge to begin with).

The hitch will be whether VW is forced to buy them back at their depreciated value before or after the news broke (the news itself likely devalued the cars significantly). You can bet that VW will want the latter. You can bet there will be folks who love their cars and its (illegally derived) efficiency and performance who will put up a stink about getting $10-12K for a car they bought 4-5 years ago for $25k.

If anybody is interested, here's the October 2014 paper from the International Council on Clean Transportation pointing out the differences between dynamometer testing and on-road testing of modern diesel engines. This is the report that got the ball rolling on the VW debacle.

http://www.theicct.org/sites/default...s_20141013.pdf

At the point this was published, the ICCT didn't know of VW's subterfuge, but subsequent investigation by California and the EPA brought the problems to light.

They may indeed want that but I doubt they'd have the balls to ask for it.

The only hit that buyers of the TCIs are in for is the complete disappearance of the resale value of their cars. The owners drove cars that polluted the atmosphere but that didn't negatively affect the operating expense. In fact, it can be argued that it reduced it by improving fuel economy.

I think the cars' Blue Book value prior to the scandal, probably trade-in rather than wholesale or retail, should be the basis for any buyback program. Perhaps there ought to be some premium attached to the value, say 20%, to cover the buyers' inconvenience and perhaps every car should be valued at "clean book" but nothing extreme. This should no more be a bonanza for the owners than it should be a ripoff of them.

This article paints a pretty grim picture of Volkswagen corporate governance and how it contributed to what happened. If it's true, I'd have no problem throwing the book at 'em.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/bu...boardroom.html

It is now reported that the ousted CEO will get compensation of somewhere between $32-67 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/o...op-67-million/

Thank you for the link, quite interesting and informative. As usual there is never a catch all technology for prevention or cleanup with emissions. Only long term solution is electric cars.

Possibly someday, only in Iceland now with plenty of geothermal generating capacity.

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Let us take your argument to an end point. Assume cars could get infinite fuel mileage and have zero emissions. What would people do with that technology? Would they pave over everything?

Detroit experimented with improving fuel economy. Consumers simply took the savings and moved further into the suburbs. And paved their way there.

There is a bigger issue at hand IMO, and it is legislative. Automotive engineering has tried and failed at reining us in.