Posts by: Scott Webb

Scandal at Volkswagen: What Happens Now (Part 4)

For every great rise, there’s a devastating fall. Take, for instance, the films of Martin Scorsese. Invariably, the narrative arcs of his films go something like this: bad guy comes from humble beginnings; acquires fame, money and power; starts to get overconfident and makes a fatal mistake, or series of mistakes; the law finds out about the bad guy’s illicit activities and makes him pay for his c

Scandal at Volkswagen: Winter is Coming—Is Winterkorn Going? UPDATED (Part 3)

UPDATE: As this story was being prepared, word came down about Winterkorn’s final fate with Volkswagen. To no one’s surprise, Professor Dudenhöffer prediction about the VW CEO was accurate, thereby rendering the headline to this piece instantaneously moot. In his official statement of resignation from the company, Winterkorn accepted responsibility for the defeat devices that were found in VW di

Scandal at Volkswagen: The Financial Fallout (Part 2)

In the wake of the recent EPA-issued notice of violation, Volkswagen told its U.S. dealerships this past Saturday to suspend sales of its so-called “clean diesel” vehicles, specifically 2015 VW and Audi models with the problematic 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engines. Dealerships will also not be allowed to carry 2016 model diesel vehicles until further notice. On Sunday, Volkswagen CEO Marti

Scandal at Volkswagen: The Great Diesel Vehicles Cover-Up (Part 1)

On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency dropped a proverbial bombshell on the auto industry when it accused Volkswagen AG of knowingly evading federal air pollution standards. The EPA alleges that nearly a half-million of VW’s late-model diesel vehicles—specifically 2009 to 2015 TDI Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, Passat, Beetle and Audi A3s—came with “defeat devices” designed to trick investigator

BMW to Enter Autonomous Car Race

While the future of autonomous cars remains speculative at present, auto companies will continue to produce self-driving car prototypes. The quest to develop a viable autonomous car has been particularly prevalent lately—and we should know, as we’ve been covering the self-driving vehicle trend for the past several months. Now, according to Reuters, BMW looks to be the latest entrant in the race to

Porsche on a Mission E to Beat Tesla

When you’re top gun, everyone’s gonna come gunning for you. Every automaker from Mercedes to Audi—and even tech companies like Apple—claims to have an electric battery-powered luxury vehicle in development that can unseat the Tesla Model S for market supremacy. The latest challenger to the Tesla throne is Porsche, who appears to making good on CEO Matthias Mueller’s promise to produce a purely ele

Google Self-Driving Cars Move Forward with Krafcik as CEO

John Krafcik will be taking his talents to Mountain View, the site of Google’s Northern California headquarters. Krafcik (pictured), a highly accomplished auto executive, will serve as CEO of Google’s self-driving cars project starting in late September. In his new role, Krafcik will be responsible for steering the Google Self-Driving Car Project—otherwise known as Project Titan—towards its goal

FCA: A Year in Recalls

Back in late July, Auto Publishers reported on a massive vehicle recall by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles designed to close potential cybersecurity loopholes that could be exploited by hackers. The upshot of this recall was that FCA was levied with an unprecedented $105 million fine, along with some harsh words from Mark Rosekind of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Now comes word th

General Motors to FCA: Thanks, But No Thanks on the Merger

Last week, we reviewed a potential merger between General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles by focusing on the public pronouncements of outspoken FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne. Marchionne believes that a merger between his company and General Motors would benefit both sides. However, as Automotive News reports, GM’s reluctance to merge with FCA is based on the belief that doing so would throw the D

FCA Boss Sergio Marchionne Pushes for GM Merger

To say that Sergio Marchionne (pictured) really wants to finalize a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors might be an understatement. The FCA CEO has practically dared GM, along with other automakers, to join forces with him. However, his mission to create the ultimate union between automakers has gone unfulfilled, at least thus far. Now it appears that Marchionne will likel