“People have known for years that the diesel models of nearly all the large manufacturers pollute a great deal more than is allowed under testing, but the politicians don’t do anything about it”, complained Daniel Moser of Greenpeace Germany.
Volkswagen Australia has not been able to confirm yet whether any of its local cars on the market are affected.
“If Volkswagen’s sales were to plunge in North America in the coming months, this would not only have an impact on the company, but on the German economy as a whole”, he added. “It’s more that just the image of Volkswagens not being environmentally friendly – people are going to have a long-term recall of Volkswagen being a company that’s systematically prepared to deceive its customers over a period of time”.
Although such a fine would be more than covered by the $24-billion the company now holds in cash, the scandal has raised fears of major job cuts.
Germany’s mighty automobile sector includes the world’s biggest and best-known names, from VW itself to high-end makers like BMW, Daimler/Mercedes-Benz, and Opel, the German arm of USA giant General Motors.
He said Wednesday that Volkswagen has indicated the software was inactive, and that the commission will have to “examine carefully what changes an inactive part could cause to an engine, the vehicle”.
A United States law firm said on Wednesday it was suing Volkswagen in a class action lawsuit.
“While the German economy defied Greece, the euro crisis and the Chinese slowdown, it could now be facing the biggest downside risk in a long while”, he said in a research note. That’s a marked turnaround from the start of the session when it slid a further 7 percent to trade below 100 euros for the first time in almost four years. “The German economy has been hit at its core”, said Michael Huether, head of Germany’s IW economic institute.
“I don’t think that the German automobile industry will be lumped altogether”, Commerzbank chief economist Joerg Kraemer told Reuters.
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told reporters at the auto show in Frankfurt after the news broke that the VW scandal would mean nothing to the “Made in Germany” label – before adding “I hope”.
But he acknowledges there is a degree of concern among German companies that the scandal over cheating on US diesel emission could have a domino effect on their businesses, eroding the cherished “Made in Germany” label.
The company’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, has also struggled to put behind it lawsuits and legal issues that in some cases date back years. “Rather, it is due to the fact that worldwide conditions have recently become much more turbulent”, GfK analyst Rolf Buerkl said.