The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

This assignment delves into the Volkswagen emissions scandal, examining the company's history, its rise to global dominance, and the pivotal events that led to the 2015 revelation of manipulated emissions testing. It analyzes major events across three decades (1990s-2010s), highlighting key players like Jack Ewing (author of 'Faster, Higher, Farther') and regulatory bodies like the EPA. The assignment also touches upon legal repercussions and the company's attempts to mitigate damage.

Running head: FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

1
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
Table of Contents
Slide 1..............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
Slide 2..............................................................................................................................................2
Volkswagen’s Path to World Domination...................................................................................2
Slide 3..............................................................................................................................................3
Major Events in 1990s.................................................................................................................3
Slide 4 and 5....................................................................................................................................4
Major Events in 2000s.................................................................................................................4
Slide 6..............................................................................................................................................5
Major Events in 2010s.................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

2
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
Slide 1
Introduction
Faster, Higher, Farther by Jack Ewing has stated that EPA disclosure of Volkswagen
installation of softwares in 11 million cars which deceived emissions. In the beginning of 2017,
the car company settled for American regulators and car owners for an amount of $ 20 Billion. In
this book the author describes of the conspiracy of VW as compounding of frauds by spending
millions on clean diesel. The author has further revealed on the way Succeeding- at – all- cost is
prevalent in the modern boardrooms and witnessed farthest-reaching cases of fraud—with
potentially devastating consequences.
Slide 2
Volkswagen’s Path to World Domination
1937 – This year witnessed Volkswagen as “people’s car” and designing of the logo by Franz
Xaver Reimspiess, who is an a motor specialist in Ferdinand Porsche’s design bureau.
1965 – Buying of Auto Union from Daimler-Benz.
1969 – Merger of Volkswagen with Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke and formation of
Audi.
1986 – VW acquisition of SEAT, which is a seat owned Spanish automaker responsible for
building of cars.
1991 – Acquisition of Skoda from the Czech government

3
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
1998- Volkswagen attempt to buying of British luxury car maker Bentley Motors, Lamborghini,
and moribund luxury brand Bugatti.
2008 – Becoming majority shareholder in Swedish truck maker Scania.
2011- Volkswagen acquisition of majority in German truck MAN.
2012- Volkswagen acquisition of Porsche and this particular deal left Porsche and Piech with
majority of voting rights of the company.
2012 – Volkswagen buying of Italian motorcycle company Ducati
2015 – Volkswagen sold more vehicles than Toyota and positioning itself as the world’s largest
carmaker.
Slide 3
Major Events in 1990s
The early 1990s of Volkswagen made the car company to switch it to water-cooled
motors mounted in front of the car. This has been identified with mass-producer of the
automobiles. The decline of Beetle made the company to struggle with its popularity. The After
the launch of first water-cooled Volkswagen passenger car, Passat sedan, introduced in 1973,
Volkswagen was seen with launching of models such as Scirocco and the compact Golf intended
to serve with economical, practical cars as the Beetle. During the early 1990s the company was
unable to keep up the competition with advances in productivity pioneered by the Japanese. Due
to high labour cost and inefficient factories the company was not seen to be making any profit.
The recession in US added to the turmoil of the company. In the year 1992, the profit of VW fell

4
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
just above the breakeven point and the company was seen to be on the verge of being bankrupt.
In 1973, Volkswagen was accused of deploying defeat devices. The carmaker had to also pay $
120000 to settle for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2005, VW paid a penalty of
1.1 million for failing to notify the emission problems to EPA. The investigation as per justice
department concluded of defeat devices from 1991 to 1995 including models such as Seville and
Deville.
Slide 4 and 5
Major Events in 2000s
In the mid 2000s the company was rattled with the prostitution scandal and led to prepare
itself for a renewed assault on the United States. In 2004, the preferred shares of the company
fell below 22 Euros and shares closed down to 15% compared to 50% decline in 1998. It was
further seen that the overall shares of the company led to unfavourable environment for
carmakers. In November 2005, Porsche raised the stake in Volkswagen to more than 30%
henceforth the company obligated VW to make an offer for the outstanding shares. In 2006-
2007, the company reported €3.6 billion ($4.9 billion) in earnings just from options. On October
23, 2007, the European Court Of Justice ruled out the special veto rights enjoyed by state Lower
Saxony which acted as a deterrent to the other investors and resulted in illegal restriction on the
free movement of the capital. In 2008, the employee representative influenced the company to
approve the contractual agreement between VW and Porche. In March 2008, the collapse of
Bear, Stearns provided the risks of lurking in the market for the subprime mortgages and the
investment helped in the pioneering of the investment bank. Until September 16, 2008, the
company was seen to acquire another 5% of the voting shares and brought a total 35%. This

5
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
event was seen to occur with the investment in the Lehman Brothers. The strike price on the
options in 2008, the company posted €4.3 billion ($6 billion) by October 24 and declared 42.6%
of the voting shares equal to another 31.5%.
Slide 6
Major Events in 2010s
The year 2010, Green Police arrested the people for installing light bulbs, using plastic
bottles and swimming pool as a result of commercial of Audi. On July 21, 2015, the internal VW
committee discussed the safety and the regulatory issues. The conclusions of the committee
summarized the memo to Frank Tuch, who is identified as the chief of quality control. The
memo issued was also seen with dealing with the issues of headed by “Diesel Motors USA.” In
September 2015, the lawsuit was filed against VW by the lawyers with providing access to the
internal company documentation. The 2016 models stalled the possibility of excess emissions for
the earlier models which were yet to be answered. On November 2, 2015 EPA was seen to issue
another notice for the violation of cars with three litre diesel motors, which affected SUVs such
as Volkswagen Touareg. The EPA identified the three liter engines as defeat devices.

6
FASTER, HIGHER, FARTHER: THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL
References
Ewing, Jack. Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal. WW Norton & Company, 2017.