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Senators want civil, criminal actions against VW

With the Department of Justice just beginning its investigation into Volkswagen's emissions evading diesels, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar are pushing for the automaker to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law both civilly and criminally. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, they press the agency to make its scrutiny "thorough but expeditious." The politicians allege that VW misled people while pumping huge amounts of pollution into the air. The Senators believe that all the information about VW's actions needs to make it to the public eye, and the DOJ must have a strong response to the automaker breaking the law. "Officials at Volkswagen should be granted no get out of jail free card, and the Department should accept no plea agreement with Volkswagen that does not ensure any and all information regarding criminal acts by high level officials is provided to the Department," they write. Senator Blumenthal is no stranger for championing changes in the auto industry as of late. He was an advocate for the General Motors Ignition Switch Compensation Fund and pushed for a similar organization for Takata airbag victims. He has also been a staunch supporter for greater automotive cyber security. Blumenthal, Klobuchar: Department of Justice Should Take Strong Civil and Criminal Actions Against Volkswagen for Any Violations Monday, September 28, 2015 Condemns Volkswagen's actions that misled hundreds of thousands of consumers and resulted in tens of thousands of tons of additional pollution emissions Calls for thorough but expeditious investigation (Washingtion, DC) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to take strong civil and criminal actions against Volkswagen for any violations following the German carmaker's actions that misled hundreds of thousands of American consumers and resulted in tens of thousands of tons of additional pollution emissions. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the senators called for a "thorough but expeditious" investigation. "Officials at Volkswagen should be granted no get out of jail free card, and the Department should accept no plea agreement with Volkswagen that does not ensure any and all information regarding criminal acts by high level officials is provided to the Department," wrote Blumenthal and Klobuchar. "The U.S.

Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

Chrysler and Fiat offering $1,000 rebates to VW owners as Marchionne gets tough

The throw-down between Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and Volkswagen has heated up in earnest. According to Bloomberg, Fiat and Chrysler are now offering current Volkswagen owners in the US $1,000 rebates to trade in their ride. It's the latest in a series of shots Marchionne has taken at his German rival. As you may recall, the Fiat executive entered into a spat with Volkwagen board chairman Ferdinand Piëch and CEO Martin Winterkorn in October after the duo called for Marchionne's resignation from presidency of the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (AECA). At the time, the Volkswagen executives were quoted as saying Fiat would not survive the European economic downturn.
In response, Marchionne called the German executives "reprehensible," and accused Volkswagen of using a pricing strategy that has created created a "bloodbath" in the EU. Volkswagen has taken to steep discounting to carve out ever-larger slices of market share in Europe, but the company has a much smaller foothold in the US. Marchionne may be trying to hit Volkswagen where the manufacturer is weakest with the new Fiat new incentive program.
Late last week, the Fiat executive was voted to a second term as ACEA president.