Volkwagen Finally Pleads Guilty On 'Dieselgate' Charges (cnet.com)

Friday Volkswagen admitted in court that they'd committed fraud in their diesel emissions tests, also pleading guilty to falsifying statements and obstruction of justice. An anonymous reader quotes CNET: It marks the first time VW admitted guilt in any court in the world, according to a VW spokesman speaking to Reuters. The judge overseeing the case in the U.S. District Court in Detroit accepted the plea and will issue a sentence at a hearing on April 21. "The agreements that we have reached with the US government reflect our determination to address misconduct that went against all of the values Volkswagen holds so dear," Volkswagen said in an emailed statement... The road to Dieselgate's conclusion still has plenty of pavement, though. The company is still under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Internal Revenue Service. And that's in the US alone.
"VW AG is pleading guilty to all three counts because it is guilty on all three counts," the company's general counsel told the judge. Reuters also reports that VW offered to buy back half a million vehicles just in America, and agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the U.S. to address claims from unhappy owners.

Comments

A mystery

[Anonymous Coward]

What I don't understand is why anyone in the US would buy a VW in the first place? They are far less reliable than "Japanese" cars, and probably "American" cars. Maybe German immigrants would buy them for patriotic reasons?

Re:A mystery

[Strider-]

This is pretty standard on most European cars (and in fact true of all modern vehicles with traction control). The braking system is biased towards the rear brakes, which keeps the car from nose diving during hard braking. Also, in slippery conditions prior ABS/ESP kicking in, it allows the front wheels, which steer, to stay turning longer before locking up (and triggering ABS/traction control).

My VW typically goes through 3 sets of rear pads before I have to replace my fronts.

Re:All of the values Volkswagen holds so dear

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Well, the company VW might have admitted guilt . . . but the management, from the top down to the bottom have not. First, the CEO tried to blame it on "a couple of rogue programmers." Yeah, right.

Now all the managers are singing the Sergeant Schultz Schtick: "I know nuh-thing! Nuh-thing!" Again, some engineering manager must have known that something was amiss, and this could only be kept secret by an extensive company internal conspiracy.

The folks who will really suffer from this fiasco, besides the customers, are the simple assembly line workers, who have been or will be laid off. It's the top managers who really need to be torched for this.