Posted by Spencer Sink.
Volkswagen is currently in the process of being sued for deliberately manufacturing cars that essentially cheat the emissions test. This case is somewhat similar to the cases with Toyota and General Motors, as Volkswagen will most definitely be forced to compensate the current vehicle owners for selling faulty products. However, we will most likely see even higher punitive damages being paid in the Volkswagen case because of the fact that Volkswagen admitted to intentionally cheating on emissions. The Toyota and General Motors cases were both honest mistakes made by the companies.
Volkswagen was given a short amount of time to attempt to find a way to mechanically fix the issue in the cars, and make them environmentally acceptable. However, even if they did fix the emissions, either the fuel efficiency or the overall vehicle performance would change, forcing Volkswagen to compensate owners for the loss in value.
What Volkswagen did was completely wrong, and must be punished accordingly. Deliberately cheating the emissions tests, and creating excess pollution, is unacceptable. If it were up to me, I would force Volkswagen to pay high punitive damages to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. Volkswagen owners should be compensated accordingly for being blindly brought into this situation.
Spencer is a business law student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.