VW Says Old Memo Told Winterkorn of Emissions Irregularities
By JACK EWING
Volkswagen’s chief at the time received the information a year before the diesel scandal broke, but the company did not know if he read the memo.
A transparent Volkswagen model on display at the Geneva International Motor Show.
Automakers’ plans to use diesel to meet Europe’s tough carbon dioxide limits have been upended by Volkswagen’s admission that it cheated on emissions tests.
With a powerful Td6 3-liter turbodiesel motor, the luxury vehicle combines opera house refinement and mountain goat ability.
A Ford F-150 Raptor pickup truck at the Detroit auto show in January. Low fuel prices helped bolster demand for pickups last month.
Overall industry sales were expected to rise as much as 8 percent, with the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate at more than 17.7 million vehicles.
Volkswagen’s chief at the time received the information a year before the diesel scandal broke, but the company did not know if he read the memo.
Toyota is recalling 198,000 more vehicles because the airbag inflater produced by Takata could rupture.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that such a recall would not improve public safety, and might exceed its authority.
Volkswagen made serious mistakes in its public response to the uproar over cheating on diesel emissions, and it is still scrambling to correct them.
A self-driving car being tested by Google struck a public bus on a city street in Mountain View, Calif.
The results of J.D. Power’s latest survey on vehicle dependability suggest there is a long way to go before self-driving cars become practical.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration still lacks a training plan to ensure that its safety investigators have the necessary expertise, a Transportation Department report finds.
Researchers found that dialing a phone was the most dangerous distraction, followed by reading or writing.
A Senate report showed Takata officials presenting falsified test data about the design of a new component, illustrating what investigators called a pattern of deceit.
Documents suggesting VW executives knew of elevated diesel emissions in early 2014 could create problems with regulators, car owners and stockholders.
The Volkswagen brand was hit in January by its biggest fall in European sales since it was engulfed in a diesel emissions scandal last year.
Aston Martin has set up a venture with the Chinese consumer electronics group LeEco to jointly develop an electric vehicle.
The design firm Ideo, which helped design the computer mouse, has been enlisted by Ford to shadow commuters and see how they get where they’re going: by car, bus, foot or Uber.
A former Takata airbag engineer testified that the company’s airbags began rupturing in internal testing as many as 16 years ago.
One of the lawyers said another was acting improperly, but a Manhattan judge said there was little evidence to support the claims.
The MKX crossover is a good move in the revival of Lincoln, a handsome, spacious crossover that should help the brand re-establish itself.
While other music outlets struggle, the satellite-radio network is a success story. However, the Internet-connected car will pose a challenge.
Many automakers are demonstrating video systems that replace side mirrors with cameras, but it may take drivers some time to get used to them.
The Exemplar I, a ’60s auto show dream car, used brass and copper trim instead of chrome. Left in a junkyard, it’s now restored.
Automakers like Toyota are pulling back from the boxy wagons and jellybean-shape city cars they were using to attract Gen X buyers.
Mr. Riccardo, who took over at a time of turmoil in 1975, recruited Lee Iacocca to succeed him, a bet that paid off when it helped win government aid.
Volkswagen Financial Services, the company’s in-house bank, has been an important element in VW’s rise to become the No. 2 carmaker in the world after Toyota.
Prosecutors claim that the Porsche holding company misled investors in 2008 on its plan to take over Volkswagen, sending VW stock soaring.
Consumers pay about 7 percent more for annual premiums if they rent their home rather than own it, even if they have stellar driving records.
Millions of people are still driving vehicles with Takata airbags that may pose a lethal danger because they have not been repaired or, in some cases, even recalled.
There were snickers in 2007 when the Chinese said they would soon be making cars for the United States. It wasn’t soon, but the vehicles have begun to arrive.
Press previews for the Detroit auto show, which was first held in 1907, are Monday and Tuesday. Over 750 vehicles are expected to be on the floor of the Cobo Center.
