On 28 May 1937, Volkswagen (VW) was founded by the National Socialist Party of Germany. The meaning of Volkswagen is German for “people’s car.” Volkswagen’s goal was to mass produce an inexpensive vehicle for the people. This car would be known as the Volkswagen Beetle. The Beetle also known as the Bug in the United States, is the longest running and best-selling single design in history with over 21,000,000 vehicles sold from 1938 to 2003. The Beetle was manufactured in Wolfsburg, Germany, the headquarters location of VW.
After World War II, VW was controlled by the Allies. The British military used Beetles for their mail operations. The company was handed back over to the German state in 1948. Production of the Beetle grew rapidly in the …show more content…
Admission of the fraud immediately resulted in the company’s chief executive’s, Martin Winterkorn, resignation which affected the company’s share price and profits. The scandal beginnings went beyond the confirmed wrongdoing on the part of some engineers. It is believed that the emissions cheating was due to the personal and professional rivalries of Wolfgang Bernhard and Martin Winterkorn during the initial development of the VW’s diesel …show more content…
According to Wall Street Journal’s William Boston, “Bernhard was seen as an outsider and faced stiff opposition from certain VW corporate insiders, such as Audi's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn.” The two disagreed on the direction in designing VW’s popular EA189 2-liter Turbocharged direct injection (TDI) engine, which became the focal point of the emissions issue. VW desperately wanted to increase its presence in the United States as part of a plan to lead the industry in worldwide sales. To compete with Toyota’s hybrid engines, VW decided to perfect their diesel motors. The problem was that while diesel consisted of almost half of new car sales in Europe, it only comprised 5% sales in the United States in 2007. With more rigorous diesel emissions standards imminent, Bernhard authorized a nitrogen oxide technology called "Blue Tec" that was developed by Mercedes-Benz, his former employer. In the meantime, Winterhorn and his Audi counterparts presented blueprints for a different diesel engine to be created internally that would eventually become the EA189. Engineers realized that this developed diesel engine would not meet stringent American emission
After World War II, VW was controlled by the Allies. The British military used Beetles for their mail operations. The company was handed back over to the German state in 1948. Production of the Beetle grew rapidly in the …show more content…
Admission of the fraud immediately resulted in the company’s chief executive’s, Martin Winterkorn, resignation which affected the company’s share price and profits. The scandal beginnings went beyond the confirmed wrongdoing on the part of some engineers. It is believed that the emissions cheating was due to the personal and professional rivalries of Wolfgang Bernhard and Martin Winterkorn during the initial development of the VW’s diesel …show more content…
According to Wall Street Journal’s William Boston, “Bernhard was seen as an outsider and faced stiff opposition from certain VW corporate insiders, such as Audi's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn.” The two disagreed on the direction in designing VW’s popular EA189 2-liter Turbocharged direct injection (TDI) engine, which became the focal point of the emissions issue. VW desperately wanted to increase its presence in the United States as part of a plan to lead the industry in worldwide sales. To compete with Toyota’s hybrid engines, VW decided to perfect their diesel motors. The problem was that while diesel consisted of almost half of new car sales in Europe, it only comprised 5% sales in the United States in 2007. With more rigorous diesel emissions standards imminent, Bernhard authorized a nitrogen oxide technology called "Blue Tec" that was developed by Mercedes-Benz, his former employer. In the meantime, Winterhorn and his Audi counterparts presented blueprints for a different diesel engine to be created internally that would eventually become the EA189. Engineers realized that this developed diesel engine would not meet stringent American emission