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That time when VW thought its diesels were holier than hybrids

When it comes to its diesel engines, Volkswagen was publicly trying to work the regulation system as far back as 2011. That's when the Obama Administration announced stricter US greenhouse-gas emissions standards for 2025. At the time, VW was saying its diesel engines were as clean or even cleaner than hybrids and some plug-in vehicles, The New York Times says, citing former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officer Margo Oge. VW did indeed boycott Obama's announcement of the 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards four years ago. The reason given at the time was that VW's attempt for its diesel engines to get special consideration and extra credits for fulfilling the emissions mandate was ultimately rejected by the EPA. Oge said VW's US executives were conciliatory but the automaker's German officials were "arrogant" in their belief that diesel technology was far superior, from an emissions standpoint, than hybrids or plug-ins. As we know now, that was not the case. Last month, we learned that VW fitted as many as 11 million vehicles around the world with software that programmed its diesel engines to show artificially low emissions levels during testing. In the ongoing fallout, VW has set aside $7.3 billion to address the scandal and the CEO resigned. New VW CEO Matthias Muller says recalls on the diesels in question may go into effect as soon as January in Europe. Meanwhile, among other indignities, Green Car Journal rescinded Green Car of the Year Awards it had bestowed on the 2009 Jetta TDI and 2010 Audi A3 TDI, while Volkswagen's Stock was delisted from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. News Source: New York TimesImage Credit: Matt Cardy / Getty Images Government/Legal Green Read This Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles CAFE standards vw diesel scandal Barack Obama

$1.4B hedge fund suit against Porsche dismissed

Investors have canvassed courts in Europe and the US to repeatedly sue Porsche over its failed attempt to take over Volkswagen in 2008 (see here, and here and here), and they have repeatedly failed to win any cases. You can add another big loss to the tally, with Bloomberg reporting that the Stuttgart Regional Court has dismissed a 1.4-billion euro ($1.95B US) lawsuit, the decision explained by the court's assertion that the investors would have lost on their short bets even if Porsche hadn't misled them.
Examining the hedge funds' motives for stock purchases and the bets that VW share prices would fall, judge Carola Wittig said that the funds didn't base their decisions on the key bits of "misinformation," and instead were participating simply in "highly speculative and naked short selling," only to get caught out.
With other cases still pending, the continued streak of victories bodes well for Porsche's courtroom fortunes, since judges will expect new information to consider overturning precedent. If there is any new info, it could come from the potential criminal cases still outstanding against former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and CFO Holger Härter, who were both indicted on charges of market manipulation.

VW agrees to halt next-gen rally car development to help others stay in WRC

Volkswagen has petitioned the FIA to hold on to the current specifications for cars in the World Rally Championship, according to Autosport.com. The move is evidently an effort to keep as many competitors in the sport as possible, despite the fact that using the current spec racers may actually hurt Volkswagen's chances at winning. The three factory teams currently competing in the WRC are at the end of a three-year homologation cycle at the end of 2013, and new cars are expected to bow next year. But developing new racers could cost as much as $4.7 million.
That price tag would put M-Sport (which fields Ford racers) out of the WRC game for 2014 and would put Citroën participation in question as well. VW has already begun work on the next iteration of its Polo R WRC, and the hatch has nabbed four wins in six rounds this season. Now it appears that car won't bow until at least 2015. The FIA has officially agreed to freeze homologation of new WRC cars until the end of next season.