PD Editorial: A nasty bug in those VW Beetles

Truth in engineering? Not so much.

What stands out most about the scandal involving Volkswagen’s and Audi’s corrupted diesel systems is the extent of the engineering deception involved.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the German automaker is guilty of installing a “defeat device” in the emissions systems of diesel vehicles that allowed the cars to bypass emission control systems. These nasty little devices would, in effect, allow the cars to detect when they were being hooked up to emission-testing equipment and alert the car to turn on special equipment that allowed it to reduce emissions.

In effect, the software told the engine when to be on its cleanest behavior. Once the testing machines were unhooked, the cars would go back to their regular polluting ways, compounding ozone buildup and health problems.

But that was just the engineering part. What’s most appalling is that Volkswagen, knowing the systems were rigged, sold some 11 million Golfs, Passats, Jettas and Beetles worldwide to people who believed their new vehicles were cleaner than they actually are. The same 2-liter diesel engines are also found in a number of Audis, a company known for its “Truth in engineering” ad campaign.

After conducting actual driving tests, the EPA and the California Air Resources Board found that the cars spewed as much as 40 times more pollution than allowed by federal law.

All this in an age when consumers are demanding vehicles that will help them reduce their carbon footprint. Instead, these car buyers were duped into making the problem worse.

That’s a problem that won’t be easily corrected.

As a result, the company announced on Tuesday that it’s setting aside $7.3 billion - an amount equal to more than half of a year’s profit - to fix the cars and pay off any anticipated fines.

But that may not be enough. In the United States alone, where the problem was detected thanks to the Air Resources Board, nearly 500,000 vehicles will need to be recalled. Under the Clean Air Act, fines could reach as much as $37,500 per car, equal to a total of $18 billion.

So it comes as no surprise that Volkswagen’s embattled global CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down on Wednesday.

This is likely to get far worse for Volkswagen before it gets better. More countries reportedly are opening investigations into the engineering practices of Volkswagen and criminal probes are beginning as well. As they should.

Air pollution is a serious health and environmental issue. This should be pursued with all the vigor of the case against former peanut company executive Stewart Parnell, who on Monday was given a 28-year prison sentence for crimes related to a salmonella outbreak that led to the death of nine people and the sickening of hundreds. In both cases, company employees knew of the problem and had an opportunity to do the right thing, but they chose to look the other way and hope they wouldn’t get caught. They were.

Michael Horn, the head of Volkswagen in the United States, said it best: “We have totally screwed up.”