Volkswagen Emissions Scandal: Ethical Failure & Regulatory Breach

[Name] The Volkswagen emissions scandal began in September 2015 when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice to the company on emissions of their cars manufactured between 2009 and 2015. Investigations showed that the diesel engines of the company’s cars caused higher emissions of ore nitrogen oxide (NOx) than required in the United States. Consequently, agencies around the world conducted their analysis of the vehicles and noted that the company had installed software that lowered emissions during the testing of the product. Professional ethics require that experts in a particular field conduct themselves in an honest manner that ensures they earn and maintain the trust of their stakeholders. In the triangle of self-interest defines the three-way relationship between the professional, the client, and the organization. Volkswagen’s managers and employees failed to honor the trust of their consumers by installing a system that cheated in the test of their vehicles leading to high levels of emissions. Additionally, they failed to provide the regulators with the relevant information to ensure the tests provided factual data on the emission of Volkswagen’s cars. The actions of the professionals led to financial losses and negative effects on the brand’s reputation in the years following the scandal. My thesis is that Volkswagen violated professional ethics by lying to clients and government agencies. Volkswagen is an automotive multinational company headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Founded in 1937, the company focused on the design and production ow front-wheel drive cars. Known as the Volkswagen Group, the organization is one of the largest multinational vehicle manufacturers and distributors in world having acquired brands such as Porsche, Bentley, Audi, and Seat. Volkswagen manufactures cars sold all over the world with its major markets in Europe and the United States. Like other industries, the automotive industry is regulated by government agencies and international organizations to ensure the safety of consumers and other people. Volkswagen has to ensure that its products meet the requirements for local, national, and regional institutions on various aspects affecting the users and non-users. Consequently, Volkswagen’s products and those of other organizations in the automotive industry have to undergo tests before being introduced into the market. The organization’s managers and engineering professionals have the responsibility of ensuring that the products meet the expectations of the consumers while abiding by regulations of all relevant industries. The Volkswagen emissions scandal resulted from the failure of the managers and the professionals at the company to abide by their obligations to the organizations and their clients. One of the most significant aspects of regulations in the automobile industry is the impact of the products on pollution. The EPA regulates the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that a vehicle should release in the atmosphere. The harmful gases have significant implications on the quality of air in the environment and associated health effects on the populations. While diesel engines have greater fuel efficiency and lower levels of CO2 than petrol engines, they produce as much as 20 times more NOx into the atmosphere. It is the responsibility of the professionals in the car companies to ensure that their products do not exceed the emission levels of the harmful pollutants. The United States has increasingly revised the requirements of the NOx emissions allowed on the American roads and required that all companies selling vehicles in the country abide to the standards. The United States EPA is in charge of regulating the emissions of harmful gases by motor vehicles. To achieve this objective, the agency established the US Tier 2 rules in 1999 that required vehicles to emit 0.07g/mi of NOx with the rules taking effect in 2009. Beginning 2005, Volkswagen began taking measures to align with the United States standards on NOx emissions for their diesel cars targeting the market. A viable but costly solution was to use the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system from Mercedes. The company’s management decided that the option was too expensive and it was necessary to develop their own technology for their cars. The lean NOx trap technology by Volkswagen sought to achieve the requirements on emissions while ensuring the fuel efficiency of their vehicles. However, the company’s system failed to achieve both options since it lowered emissions at the expense of the fuel efficiency of their vehicle