Op-Ed: Here’s how companies can strong-arm their suppliers into cutting carbon emissions
By now, everyone is familiar with the news about Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal.
Volkswagen AG (VW) was caught falsifying diesel emissions data with the help of a software that was installed in a million trucks sold across the globe since 2007. The scandal has become so big that, for now, it may take five years to repair the damage. But a question that has remained unaddressed is why car makers, including VW, and government agencies around the world have decided to turn a blind eye to it.
Let’s take a look at the evidence that Volkswagen cheated emissions tests. It’s worth noting there are other parties that could have used the same software that helped bring down the Volkswagen emissions scandal including a third-party supplier of emission control systems for trucks, software developers and some car makers.
However, while VW may have cheated in the past, they were caught cheating and, as a consequence, some of their customers were forced to buy a new car rather than purchase a fix. VW’s customers were not the only ones to suffer. In fact, as we’ve seen, VW sold $1.3 billion in diesel cars worldwide in 2011. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that with one-third of the global diesel car market on the hook, VW’s customers were in a lot of trouble.
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The Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal and how it could affect the car industry
One of the key questions we need to ask is why Volkswagen chose to cheat in the first place. It all started in 2010, when VW admitted that it had installed software that would increase the amount of nitrogen oxides that came out of its cars. The company said that it had done so because it was a “prerequisite” for meeting European emissions rules.
A year later in 2011, Volkswagen decided to add to its cheating story and admitted it had installed software that would, according to VW, “cause air quality in Europe and in the US to fall short of the limits established