#dieselgate: VW’s cheap fix called “nonsense”, “placebo” – lobby group sues

It's that simple?

It’s that simple?

Two days ago, Volkswagen presented a fix for the 8.2 millions of dieselgate-affected cars in Europe. Instead of costly and complicated repairs, 5.2 million can be fixed with a software flash only, VW says. For the remaining 3 million, the solution is a cheap plastic part, and a change of the engine software. The “solution” caused an uproar in the media. German lobby group DUH wants to go to court over it.

The solution, says Volkswagen, is a piece of plastic mesh, installed between the air filter and the air intake. It looks like a redneck-hack, but it comes with fancy names. Initially, it was called “flow transformer”, later, Volkswagen named it “flow straightener.” German media calls it bullshit.

So millions of cars are being recalled, scores of managers were fired for lack of a simple plastic part? Asked, why Volkswagen did not put in the miracle device in the first place, Volkswagen spokesman Gerd Bode told Spiegel that the “solution was not available in the past.” Which prompted Spiegel to write:

“With that, Volkswagen signals that its management still believes that it can tell the public any bullshit it wants to.”

Jürgen Resch of the German lobby group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) says:

„Once again, Europe’s largest automaker tries to play politicians and customers for fools. In the U.S.A., Volkswagen figures several hundred dollars and five to 10 technician hours to fit a better catalytic converter. For some of the cars, VW has no solution and wants to buy back the cars. A plastic part for 2.50 Euro can’t make our cars as clean as in the U.S.A. If it would be that simple, why do we have a scandal?”

The lobby group asked German transport authority KBA for the technical data of the fix. The agency does not want to disclose it without Volkswagen’s approval. DUH has initiated legal proceedings against the KBA.

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