Commentary

Volkswagen's Near Term Is Murky; Ditto For Others?

The latest in Diesel Gate, wherein Volkswagen faces the anger of the world and contumely of the press over its emissions deceit: could other automakers have also altered their tailpipe results? Reportage is out now that several other diesel nameplates perhaps emit more NOx in real-world driving than in test mode. Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi have, apparently, been outed by tests at a firm called Emissions Analytics. The tests seem to show some European diesel models emit up to 20 times the smog-causing oxides of nitrogen as EU rules permit.

Reporting on this at TheDetroitBureau.com, Paul Eisenstein says “not so fast.” He spoke with Nick Molden, the CEO of that lab, who says there's no hard evidence of “anyone doing anything clearly illegal.”

Either way, I see two directions: either consumers don’t care and will move on (to which I subscribe), or consumer loyalty, once abused, is like a root canal without novocaine. It’s hard to undo and harder to forget. Either way, if public estrangement from VW extends beyond core diesel loyalists, the automaker's in for a ride, especially with the new Passat heading to dealerships. Whether it’s a short ride or a long fall is probably anyone’s guess. 

Kelley Blue Book and sibling Autotrader are reporting results of their respective surveys. About 70% of people KBB polled believe the diesel emissions issue could spread beyond Volkswagen. The majority of respondents to KBB's poll said they have “complete” or “general mistrust” of Volkswagen. An Autotrader survey finds that 42% of survey respondents feel other automobile manufacturers also are secretly violating EPA emission rules. Thirty percent of respondents to the Autotrader poll say they would be less likely now to consider a diesel vehicle. 

And, unfortunately, awareness is high. The Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com Survey, Sept. 23 - 28, 2015, with 1,002 respondents, finds that 64% of consumers are aware of the diesel emissions issue; almost all of those folks say that Volkswagen is the primary manufacturer involved; 63% cite “intentional deceit” as the most troubling aspect of this issue; over half say they have “complete” or “general mistrust” in Volkswagen; and 58% are unsure if Volkswagen is taking proper actions in addressing this issue. 

According to the Autotrader Quick Poll of about 914 consumers, 30% of respondents say they would be less likely to consider a diesel vehicle.

Edmunds.com says that, on its site, Ford, Honda and Toyota are the top shopped brands among Volkswagen shoppers; Mini, Fiat and Audi shoppers have the most reverse cross-shopping engagement with VW, meaning those are the brands whose owners are also looking at VeeDub. 

In the case of apostasy from VW owners, in the last two weeks BMW, Chevrolet (both with diesel offerings) show increased interest among VW shoppers on Edmunds. The firm also finds that more Jetta diesel shoppers are looking at Chevrolet Cruze in the last two weeks, but fewer Cruze shoppers are looking at VW Jetta diesel; and fewer VW gas shoppers are now shopping the diesel variants than they had this time last month.

Will Volkswagen name names? Will this turn out to have been a bit of roguery by a few blackguards in the company technology coat closet, or will it be a case of strangulation death by the iron hand of bureaucracy. Or bureaucratic plutocracy, where the key tenet is, to borrow an axiom, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Next story loading loading..