Meanwhile there is some light at the end of the tunnel and we can already look at possible solutions to the problems at VW. Not so much in the personnel area, because the become known resign of the designated head for the markets USA, Canada and Mexico Winfried Valand from the Group casts a further shadow on completion of the crisis. Also there has found a spokesman who is informed about the processes by the meantime awakened Kraftfahrbundesamt (Germany's Federal Motor Vehicle And Transport Authority). It is Minister of Transport Dobrindt (2nd video below), who has set himself at the forefront of the movement, and again and again keep us up to date with all that's new.

The two-liter diesel have obviously already enough hardware on board, so that only their software needs to be changed. The solution of this problem takes place probably in a product recall from January 2016. You can not refuse yourself to let make the changes, otherwise the appropriate governmental institutions withdraw the type-approval after the product recall. Probably one may convert then the vehicle at one's own expense.

What reason is there at all to ignore the callback? Well, because, for example, one has to fear less torque/power (Video 3) and a higher consumption in future. That it will not come quite so bad, the procedure for the 1.6 / 1.2 liters engines demonstrates. They should probably be equipped with additional hardware, probably AdBlue tanks with DeNO_X catalyst. Owners of one of these engines may hope to be spared a little more of reduced power and increased consumption.

It would be even nicer if a manufacturer might improve exhaust emission by significantly reduced performance (up to 10 percent at the moment) and higher consumption. He would have to fear actions mainly from consumers who do not recognize the behaviour of their vehicle. If all this is practicable without trouble, the problems could be resolved sometime at the beginning of 2017, at least for Europe.

However, appears to have been cheated in the USA opposite to Europe, also in the successor engine generation EA 288 from 2012 onwards. Possible, because here the limit is yet again 25 percent more stringent than for Euro 6 and came into force also much earlier. Obviously not only the personnel and financial consequences are incalculable in this market.

Football sponsorship in danger

Meanwhile crafty bankers have estimated in the latest issue of the newspaper 'Die Zeit' the financial consequences for the Group. Assuming the best case it would be about 25 billion euros, predicts the worst a tripling of that amount. Terrible, because also the very painful sale of Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati and Bugatti would bring in e.g. 'only' 5 up to10 billions.

Whether not Ferdinand Piëch has seen coming the whole mess in February, and already then wanted to take countermeasures with Matthias Müller instead of Martin Winterkorn? He's gone now, and someone like Wolfgang Porsche has now already survived the second scandal in the Supervisory Board after the attempted Porsche-VW takeover.

How much the automakers stick together, shall evident from the fact that Daimler Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, a former Constitutional Court Judge and now responsible for Integrity and Legal Affairs, can change into the management board of VW, even though their contract actually would run until 2017. 02/19