September 24, 2015
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn Steps Down, Calling for 'Fresh Start'
The CEO of Volkswagen said Wednesday that he would step down as the company wrestles with a scandal over rigged emissions tests. CEO Martin Winterkorn denied any personal wrongdoing but said the company needed "a fresh start." "I am shocked by the events of the past few days," he said in a statement. "Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group." NBC reports that Volkswagen has admitted that it rigged U.S. emissions tests to make it look as if its diesel-powered cars were emitting fewer nitrogen oxides, which can contribute to respiratory illness. Winterkorn, 68, has been CEO for eight years. He accepted responsibility for "irregularities" in Volkswagen diesel engines. Whether Winterkorn really didn't know about VW's efforts to secretly cheat on diesel emissions tests or not is likely to be one of the central issues in a variety of probes set to get underway around the world. Not only the EPA, but the U.S. Justice Department, are investigating. So are authorities in Germany and South Korea. For more on Winterkorn’s resignation, click here. The company plans to name a successor at its board meeting Friday. For a breakdown of the leading candidates for the job, click here.
Apple Targets Electric-Car Shipping Date for 2019
Apple Inc. is accelerating efforts to build an electric car, designating it internally as a “committed project” and setting a target ship date for 2019, reports the Wall Street Journal. Apple has hired experts in driverless cars, but the people familiar with Apple’s plans said the Cupertino, Calif., company doesn’t currently plan to make its first electric vehicle fully autonomous. Apple’s commitment is a sign that the company sees an opportunity to become a player in the automotive industry by applying expertise that it has honed in developing iPhones—in areas such as batteries, sensors, and hardware-software integration—to the next generation of cars. There are many unanswered questions about Apple’s automotive foray, including whether or not they have a manufacturing partner. In addition, the 2019 target is ambitious. Building a car is a complex endeavor, even more so for a company without any experience. Once Apple completes its designs and prototypes, a vehicle would still need to undergo a litany of tests before it could clear regulatory hurdles. In Apple’s parlance, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product’s main features. For more on Apple’s plans, click here.
How U.S. Lawyers Were So Quick off the Mark to Sue Volkswagen
Less than four days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Volkswagen had designed some of its diesel models to cheat emissions tests, lawyers have brought at least 25 class actions on behalf of scores of car owners in all 50 U.S. states. One reason class action lawyers were able to mobilize so fast is that the company's marketing to upscale professionals had backfired: Plaintiffs lawyers didn't have to look far for clients because many of their friends and colleagues owned the cars. The lead plaintiff in the first case filed was David Fiol a personal injury attorney from San Francisco. As soon as the news broke, he reached out another lawyer, who connected him with Steve Berman, a lead partner at Hagens Berman, one of the best-known plaintiffs' class-action law firms. "I was like, 'Holy Batman,'" Berman said. "I've talked other people into buying those cars." According to Automotive News, it is too early to estimate Volkswagen's potential liability in litigation by clean-diesel car owners in the U.S., particularly as estimates change of the number of cars affected. The company has reserved $7.3 billion for costs related to the emissions testing scandal. For more on pending litigation, click here.
10 Cars with the Worst Acceleration in the U.S.
For people who aren’t interested in sports cars, acceleration figures can seem irrelevant. For the most part, they are; a regular car and a sports car will both get that person from point A to point B, and having an excessive amount of power is mostly unnecessary. At the same time, though, if you’ve ever tried to merge with traffic, pass a slower car on a two-lane road, or make an unprotected left turn in an under-powered car, you understand that there’s such a thing as a car that’s too slow. So which cars are the slowest in the country? Consumer Reports independently tests hundreds of cars, and Autos Cheat Sheet has the ten that accelerated the slowest. Number nine on the list is the tiny Fiat 500 Pop. Anyone looking for a fashionable and affordable city car will likely be happy with the 500 Pop and its sub-$17,000 base price. If they’re looking for speed, though, they’ll have to look elsewhere because the 500 Pop takes 11 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour, just like the Buick Encore Leather. For the full list, and to find out which vehicle sold in the U.S. is the slowest off the block at 14.8 seconds, click here.
Federated Insurance’s “Claim of the Month” – Could it happen to you?
A part-time employee at a dealership was rushing to complete a dealer trade before closing time. On his way, he slammed into another vehicle. The result was two deaths and two serious injuries. The accident investigation determined that the employee was driving 20 miles per hour over the speed limit, talking on his cell phone, and never even applied the brakes. Do you know who’s driving your vehicles? Federated Insurance recommends several best practices to help protect your business and manage risks, such as having a “no distracted driving” policy signed by employees and kept on file; ordering motor vehicle reports on ALL employees who may have driving privileges, even incidental; or even outsourcing dealer trades. For more loss control recommendations you can use to help protect your dealership, contact your local Federated Insurance representative and request a copy of our Auto Dealer Keys to Success risk management educational materials. Federated Insurance supports AIADA members through customized insurance programs and personalized service. Log in to Federated’s Shield Network® to discover all the value-added risk management tools and services available.
Around the Web
Fiat 500L: Good Choice for Frugal Pope [CNN]
West Virginia Researcher Describes How Volkswagen Got Caught [AutoBlog]
What To Do When You're The First On The Scene At An Accident [Jalopnik]
How Useful Is the Honda Fit's HDMI Port? [Cars.com]