The Obama administration has ordered Volkswagen to recall nearly 500,000 cars between the model years of 2009 to 2015 for a pretty astonishing reason.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the company installed software that deliberately deceived government regulators and consumers.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued the company a notice of violation and accused the company of breaking the law by installing software known as a “defeat device” in 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The device is programmed to detect when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and to only turn on full emissions control systems during that testing. Those controls are turned off during normal driving situations, when the vehicles pollute far more heavily than reported by the manufacturer, the E.P.A. said.
“Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health,” said Cynthia Giles, the E.P.A.’s assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance.
Aside from the general threat to public health, there may be thousands of people out there who purchased these vehicles under the false pretense that they were far cleaner than they really are. Someone at the highest levels of Volkswagen management clearly ordered the installation of this deceptive software and I'd like to know who. They defrauded their customers, city and state governments, and the federal government.
I don't expect it will but this should dispel the notion that industry can regulate itself.