German court sends VW execs to prison over Dieselgate scandal

Post by DocTomoe » Mon, May 26, 2025, 5:09 PM UTC

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #75

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because with large companies, blame and accountability gets spread thin over a wide area till it evaporates, so everyone gets away with it.

Someone floated on here that the punishment should be partial government ownership stakes instead of weak fines. It doesn't syphon off funds and risk damaging important national companies that are 'too big to punish'. Instead it dilutes shareholder value and DIRECTLY impacts the company owners. It also gives the government an inside place in the company which no company wants to deal with. If a company doesn't change…

Post by SoftTalker » Mon, May 26, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

lucianbr wrote: post #76

FridayoLeary wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have kind of abandoned diesel engines, which the whole scandal was based around. It became clear that it would be impossible to create diesel engines which would comply with enviromental standards, which is a shame since they are more efficient and it is consumers who are losing out. They are still one of the main automotive conglomerations today. If anything American car companies are losing the market in Europ…

I could be wrong but I think BMW and Mercedes still make diesel engines. So maybe it's only impossible at a lower price point? Although the difference isn't that large.

Post by lkbm » Mon, May 26, 2025, 5:12 PM UTC

wat10000 wrote: post #25

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rich people are above the law precisely because they use corporations and corporate laws as shields to deflect personal liability of their actions as a actions of "the company" which is a faceless entity. "You see, I didn't steal your money, the company I ran stole your money, but that's actually on you because you didn't read the fine print I put in the contract you signed. And don't worry, justice was served, the c…

It’s worse than that. Rich-people crimes are often codified as much less severe than regular-people crimes, or are just outright legal. This is a great example. Why is this emissions fakery illegal? Ultimately it’s because pollution kills people. Are these people going to prison for killing people? Not exactly. They’re going to prison for killing too many people. If they had stayed within the limits, they’d still be…

Post by pqtyw » Mon, May 26, 2025, 5:15 PM UTC

izacus wrote: post #28

hermitcrab wrote: post #5

Good for Germany, but it is all too rare to see bad corporate behaviour punished like this. Steal £10k from a company, and you will probably go to prison for a long time. Start a company and steal billions from your customers and/or the tax payer, and you will probably get away with it. I believe Iceland was the only country to jail bankers after the 2008 banking disaster. We are still waiting for the British governm…

The question is, whether VW as a German company is now going to end up being beaten by US competitors which could do even more nasty stuff unpunished.

Post by potato3732842 » Mon, May 26, 2025, 5:16 PM UTC

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #6

hermitcrab wrote: post #5

Good for Germany, but it is all too rare to see bad corporate behaviour punished like this. Steal £10k from a company, and you will probably go to prison for a long time. Start a company and steal billions from your customers and/or the tax payer, and you will probably get away with it. I believe Iceland was the only country to jail bankers after the 2008 banking disaster. We are still waiting for the British governm…

Because with large companies, blame and accountability gets spread thin over a wide area till it evaporates, so everyone gets away with it.