Jobs Are at Stake

As damning as the evidence against and the scandal from Volkswagen really is there are people with jobs who could be affected should the government hit Volkswagen too hard with fines and penalties. This is the stance Volkswagen is taking with regards to the action already levied against them by the US Justice Department and from a judgement that gave the company only until March 24 to come up with a solution to this problem before additional action could be taken against this company. What does this amount to; one heck of a mess that will probably cost many employees of Volkswagen their jobs.

Last summer West Virginia University discovered the emissions control systems on diesel powered Volkswagen models were programmed to only activate when the system detected it was being tested. This results in the diesel models on the road allowing all the emissions of the engine into the air as pollutants which amounts to nearly forty times the allowable amount of emissions according to the EPA. The testing by the University was validated by the EPA which has since altered its testing procedures to have less predictable testing and create a more honest result from all vehicles.

This blatant disregard for the regulations in place has landed Volkswagen right in the middle of a $46 billion lawsuit from the US Justice Department. To make matters worse Volkswagen needs to find a fix for the nearly 600,000 diesel powered models on the roads in the US, but that is just the beginning. Recently the EPA requested Volkswagen begin to build some electric vehicles in the Chattanooga plant which employs about 2,200 people currently. Adding to this request the EPA has also asked Volkswagen to being to help improve and expand the network of electric charging stations around the country to improve the overall infrastructure for EV models.

Should the US Government expect all actions requested to come from Volkswagen? Is March 24 a reasonable deadline for this fix to be in place? A statement from Volkswagen suggests the feeling of the leadership finds this to be unfair and detrimental to the future of not only Volkswagen but the 600,000 employees it has around the world, including those in Chattanooga. This could be a huge blow not only for the company but in regards to the socio-economic effect it could have on the world. As for the deadline, so far Volkswagen has stated the fix is still months away, which doesn’t fit in the timeline given.

While this is an interesting piece of news to follow, the blow to Volkswagen should be a heavy one, but not to the price requested and the additional work needed for the EV infrastructure for North America. Eventually this will probably come down to one or the other and the latter of the two would be the most beneficial to the US in the long run. Once an actual fix is figured out and Volkswagen begins to install them on the diesel model I would hope some practicality will win out and an expanded production for Volkswagen in the US will begin.