Yes, I was shocked.

How is it possible for the largest car industry of the world to infringe intentionally so many regulations, in order to sell more cars and lead to larger pollution of the environment?

How greedy can someone be, that, in order to maximize the profits of an already extremely wealthy company, would show such indifference on people's health, and pollution of the environment?

As you may have heard, the German car industry "Volkswagen" admitted, after investigation in USA conducted by an NGO, to have programmed the software on its cars, so that when their emissions were measured officially, the system would shift to a special mode in which it would emit 40 times less NOx pollutants than they would under normal circumstances, tricking exhaust gas counters, .

It was proven that the reason for this fraud was neither the technology (diesel) nor the strict specifications, since the other German car (BMW) that was also tested was well within the specifications.

According to the analysis of Guardian (UK newspaper), ever year in the U.S.A, because of Volkswagen?s NOx extra emissions, 12,000-40,000 tons of toxic NOx substances were emitted. If the specifications were followed, only (comparably) 1,030 tones would be emitted.

The company has admitted that such software has been incorporated in 11 million vehicles worldwide, which are responsible for between 237,161 to 948,691 tons of NOx emissions each year, surpassing 10 to 40 times the pollution standard.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/22/vw-scandal-caused-nearly-1m-tonnes-of-extra-pollution-analysis-shows

The apparent reason for the application of this software was that engine, in conditions leading to higher emissions, had more horsepower and worked under conditions that required less maintenance. Therefore, the company instead of investing in research to develop the engine's performance, preferred to cheat consumers and the authorities in order to sell more cars.

The fraud was discovered by a research team of West Virginia University, subcontracted by the NGO International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), that performs independent – and crucially on-road – emission tests.

The table below shows the measurements of the independent laboratory that discovered the fraud. The specification is the black dotted line, the indications under conventional measurement is the blue column, and the actual emissions of NOx are the orange columns (Highway/Urban/Rural driving)

http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/sep/23/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-explained-diesel-cars



I do not know what led to the company's managers, even in a country known for its environmental sensitivities, to decide to deceive consumers at the expense of the global environment with serious consequences for the environment and public health.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed"
-Mahatma Gandhi