Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal by Jack Ewing. 

4/5 rating. 

Book #122 of 2019. Read October 18, 2019.

This book was an incredibly interesting read! I learned so much about “dieselgate” (the entire VW diesel emissions cheating scandal). Having worked for the parts development team at Hyundai, and even more specifically with the catalyst and catalytic converter manufacturers, I understand the amount of engineering, detail and responsibility of proper design for these components. With this deep understanding and as an engineer, I was utterly disgusted by the complete lack of morals, or acceptance of responsibility by Volkswagen and its affiliates. VW deployed outright “defeat devices” as direct ways to cheat the emissions tests in the US, while touting their technology as “clean diesel”. This out-right lie endangered people and the environment to levels of potentially deadly nitrogen dioxide: levels in excess of the legal limit by as much as 40 TIMES FOR SOME VEHICLES!! 

I think everyone working in the auto industry should read this, but even more broadly, this book is telling for anyone working in an industry where your choices impact a wide array of people, and lying to your customers can have a direct impact on their health or wellbeing. As was clearly stated in the book: “Precisely because [stretch goals] generate a lot of pressure, you have to make sure they are coupled with a clear sense of what the boundaries are. ‘We will grow, but we will do so in a way that is true to our brand.’ Ensuring those values is more important than reaching the goal. You should never let the goal itself get the better of you. That was just missing at Volkswagen.” I was astounded at the direct and blatant malfeasance by VW, and definitely do not plan to support them with a car purchase any time soon!

Quotes:

“Most executives, it was clear, were not ready to stand up to Piëch. On the contrary, his style of management emboldened subordinates to behave the same way toward their underlings. That is how corporate cultures – the unwritten rules that govern behavior inside a large organization – come into being. The people at the top set an example, and the people below them follow.”

“Europe made it so easy to undermine emissions standards legally, in fact, that defeat devices were completely superfluous.”

“In the years preceding the West Virginia University study, Volkswagen had also considered detailed proposals, made on several occasions at product strategy meetings, for improving the pollution control equipment so that emissions under normal driving conditions would better match those achieved in the lab. The proposals were rejected. Too expensive, Winterkorn and others said. The use of defeat devices, which may have begun as a stopgap, had become a habit, as long as the deception remained undiscovered, a cost advantage.”

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