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Asked by: Sanja Pilet
business and finance recallsWhy is Volkswagen's moral and ethical behavior being criticized?
With VW still suffering fallout from its 2015 admission to cheating U.S. diesel emissions tests, the company was roundly criticised for showing a blatant lack of moral and ethical judgment that undermined its pledge to become more accountable. VW's chief lobbyist was suspended over the affair.
Likewise, why Volkswagen was having a difficult time meeting the emissions limits with diesel engines?
On December 10, Volkswagen Chairman Hans-Dieter Pötsch made a public admission: A group of the company's engineers decided to cheat on emissions tests in 2005 because they couldn't find a technical solution within the company's "time frame and budget" to build diesel engines that would meet U.S. emissions standards.
In this regard, why did Volkswagen cheat emissions test?
It turned out that Volkswagen had installed software that changed how the engine ran when it was undergoing an emissions test to make it look like a low-emissions vehicle. The rest of the time? The cars were emitting dangerous pollutants at levels up to 150 times that of a normal car.
It's true that some diesel engines produce fewer toxic emissions than some petrol engines, but by and large petrol remains the cleaner option. Diesel engines produce higher levels of particulates, microscopic bits of soot left over from the combustion process.