The further we get from the date the news broke at the end of the summer of 2015, the more Dieselgate seems like a pivotal turning point in the history of the automobile. Nevermind Europe pivoting away from diesel virtually overnight, the following onslaught of electrification efforts and the legal fallout of emissions tampering at the manufacturer level has changed the face of the industry as we know it. However, even the scandal itself isn’t done as litigation on Dieselgate reportedly continues roughly a decade after the day that killed diesel passenger cars in America.
Meanwhile, Porsche just stated that a new combustion-powered Macan with an available electrified twist is on the way in the next three years, Aston Martin is selling its stake in the Aston Martin F1 team, and you can now smell like a Ford F-150. Why? Good question.
Welcome back to The Morning Dump, where we take the fresh ingredients of car news you should know about and blend it into a sort of vehicular vichyssoise. Matt’s on vacation this week, which means I’m sort-of taking on a sous chef role for one more day, so order up an aperitif because it’s time to dig in.
So The Fallout From Dieselgate Is Still Happening
Roughly 13 years after researchers at West Virginia University uncovered evidence of excessive nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel-powered Volkswagens, and nearly a decade after the EPA announced that Volkswagen had violated the Clean Air Act, Dieselgate still isn’t over. At this point, it’s unequivocal that Volkswagen and other automakers used defeat devices to skirt the spirit of emissions laws, but that certainly doesn’t mean that litigation is over.
The courts often move like tectonic plates, and while environmental fines have been levied and executives have been jailed, civil cases around Dieselgate are still ongoing. That’s where this latest bit of news comes from, with Reuters reporting that European Justices find automakers like Volkswagen still liable for their diesel emissions tampering actions.
The European Court of Justice on Friday ruled that carmakers like Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), remain liable for using unlawful defeat devices, such as temperature-sensitive emissions software, even if the vehicles met EU standards, which doesn’t guarantee the technology’s legality.
The case at the European Union’s top court arose from two German lawsuits involving Volkswagen diesel vehicles fitted with defeat devices, either during production or through later software updates. The Court said compensation to buyers can be reduced based on vehicle use or capped at 15% of the purchase price, but it must still adequately reflect the damage caused.
So what does this mean? Well, what we’re looking at here is precedent for civil litigation. Some owners are still seeking compensation from Volkswagen due to alleged defeat devices on their vehicles, and in this case, Volkswagen drew up a defending argument that seems fairly flimsy. As Marketscreener reports:
Volkswagen has suffered another defeat in its battle against compensation claims from diesel buyers. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now ruled that the Wolfsburg-based company cannot invoke a so-called error of law regarding the use of defeat devices for exhaust gas purification. This is the case when someone does not know or incorrectly assesses that their behavior is prohibited and therefore illegal.
[…]
In the proceedings, VW argued that it had assumed that the defeat device was permissible and that it would have been approved by the Federal Motor Transport Authority if requested.
The ECJ has now ruled that a car manufacturer cannot be exempted from liability for an illegal defeat device simply because the vehicle type or the device itself has been approved by the competent national authority.
Considering the environmental damage caused by tampering with emissions on such a wide scale, I get why authorities are continuing to hold automakers liable. While this may seem like the longest-running automotive scandal in history, it’s a different beast from the Ford Explorer’s Firestone tire scandal or the Toyota floor mat scandal. Those were safety defects; systemic emissions cheating is something more insidious. The bottom line? Expect to keep hearing about Dieselgate for years to come.
Get Ready For A New Combustion-Powered Macan
The beauty of Porsche’s branding is that it’s often looked at as a sports car company, but is really now an SUV company that’s known for its sports cars. Sure, cars like the 911, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman are the ones everyone wants in their garage, but haulers like the Cayenne and Macan are what keep a steady stream of revenue flowing through even the bad times. Sports cars are frivolous in the same way champagne is, but luxury SUVs? Even the upper-middle-class doesn’t stop shopping at Whole Foods if the economy takes a downturn. However, the current combustion-powered Macan has been phased out in Europe thanks to GSR2 legislation and not everyone wants to go electric, so the engineers in Stuttgart are readying another new Macan. The marque had an earnings call on Wednesday, and Automotive News was listening in on what CEO Oliver Blume was saying to relay this tidbit of information:
“We won’t be later than 2028 with the B-SUV ICE and hybrid version,” he said of the vehicle. The vehicle will be rolled out to all markets but Blume didn’t say when the U.S. launch will occur.
Given that Porsche classifies the electric Macan as a B-SUV, it sure seems like we’ll be looking at a brand new combustion-powered Macan at some point in the next three years, with an electrified twist. While there’s no word on whether the hybrid model will be a plug-in or not, a plug-in does make sense assuming a seven-year model cycle from 2028 to 2035, as several key markets have legislation prioritizing plug-ins. For example, Canada’s EV mandate allows for long-range plug-in hybrids to qualify under near-term electrification quotas, and various European countries have tax advantages for plug-in hybrids. In any case, don’t be surprised if the next gasoline-powered Macan will run on the same Premium Platform Combustion, um, platform found underneath the new Audi Q5.
Aston Martin Is Selling Its F1 Team
Despite what feels like the strongest product lineup in years, Aston Martin isn’t having the best time right now. Thanks in part to a combination of a decline in volume of high-margin Specials models, a slump in wholesale volumes of most core models outside of Britain, and tariff-related impacts, its operating loss for the first half of 2025 widened to £134.7 million from £106.1 million for the first half of 2024. That’s not a great position to be in as a publicly traded company, so as for ways to raise cash relatively quickly, how about selling its stake in its Formula 1 team? As Bloomberg reports:
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc, the listed carmaker, has agreed to sell its minority stake in the racing team for £110 million, it said Wednesday. A binding letter of intent has been signed with a buyer at a £2.4 billion valuation, Chief Executive Officer Adrian Hallmark said in an interview. He declined to name the buyer, saying the deal had yet to complete.
So what’s going to change if this sale happens? Other than a needed cash injection for Aston Martin Lagonda, likely not much. Even if Aston Martin, the carmaker, cashes out, majority control of the F1 team would still be held by Aston Martin CEO Lawrence Stroll through his firm Yew Tree Investments. What’s more, Planet F1 reports that “While the auto maker is set to step away as a minority owner, it will maintain a commercial relationship through a long-term branding agreement.” In short, if the reported stake sale goes through, expect to see Lance Stroll on the grid in an Aston Martin come 2026.
You Can Now Smell Like An F-150
Gendered toiletries will never cease to be amusing. Walk into your local pharmacy and take a gander at the scents of products aimed at women. They’ll all smell like things humans actually want to smell, like lavender and vanilla and hibiscus. Meanwhile, products aimed at men have ridiculous scents like Batman and brick and, um, Ford F-150. Yeah, so Ford has collaborated again with man soap brand Dr. Squatch on some new soaps, and it really feels like branded merchandise is plumbing new depths here.
Unsurprisingly the new soaps aren’t named after, say, the Escape and Mustang Mach-E. Instead, they’re called the Bronco Bricc and the F-150 Tough Scrub, one of which is brown and the other of which is blue. Alright, there’s a little more to it than just the color. The Bronco soap seems like a traditional scent package of cedar and pine, but the F-150 Tough Scrub is where things get interesting. It’s been given scents of leather and driftwood, which theoretically means it could make you smell like a King Ranch even if Dr. Squatch doesn’t explicitly state any similarities to the scent of a high-spec half-ton. Unsurprisingly, there’s also a contest running with this collaboration. Buy the soap, get an entry to potentially win an F-150. I suppose it beats arriving to a Bumble date wearing Hummer aftershave or Nissan 350Z cologne.
What I’m Listening To While Writing The Morning Dump
Since Matt returns to Morning Dump duties next week, I figure this is the last chance I have for the foreseeable future to share something a bit out-there from my mix. As far as recent artists with blue links on their Wikipedia page’s family section go, 2Hollis is one of the most artistically interesting in the game right now. The son of the drummer from Tortoise and Owsla cofounder Kathryn Frazier, he’s delivering a unique blend of electroclash and experimental hip-hop starring his own tight production. This one’s called “you once said my name for the first time“.
The Big Question:
What’s your take on the legacy of Dieselgate?
Top graphic image: Volkswagen
I’m a mechanical engineer. I studied automotive engineering in University in the 90’s, I even spent a summer in France studying automotive engineering. I did not end up becoming an automotive engineer for reasons.
I’m going to have a difficult time explaining my intense level of rage, embarrassment and offendedness(?) on the topic of Dieselgate.
Somewhere, at some point, an engineer was asked to do this. This was absolutely not by accident, and they absolutely knew what they were doing. They did not choose the right thing, but instead chose to do the wrong thing. And, this is not a wrong thing like other wrong things, this is one of those things that affects the health of people worldwide. They KNEW this when they did it. It offends me to such levels that I will never, ever, buy a VW or any other VAG vehicle in my life. And I really really really want a Porsche.
If I were asked to blatantly break the law, especially on this level, I would have quit, immediately. My family would understand, and be vindicated.
The managers and businessman who made the decision to move forward, I can understand, because they are often soulless assholes. I know there are bad people in every discipline, but I have different expectations of engineers. These are German engineers, whom I have worked with. They are extremely well educated, and know their stuff like no other. And for them to execute something like this, on this scale, is insulting to me in ways that even this post is not able to communicate.
This is also true for EVERY company that broke emissions regulations on their diesel vehicles, which is a lot. Going to be pretty hard to avoid every manufacturer who did this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal#/media/File:Nitrogen_oxide_on-road_emissions_by_manufacturer_and_capacity.svg
The only ones on that list that I would buy from are GM and Toyota. GM was done by Opel, sooooo not really GM, but euro GM, which they then sold. And Toyota was a particulate filter, which is not as egregious as VW. Pretty easy to avoid the rest. I’m done with BMW anyway, accept the one I have, which is a unicorn.
I don’t think the particulate filter has anything to do with that graph.
But also, this is pretty egregious.
https://www.theautopian.com/how-gm-got-caught-in-an-emissions-scandal-decades-before-volkswagen/
Toyota also cheated collision testing on a subsidiary. VW just gets a crapload of flak because it got the most media coverage and the harshest penalties
weirdest Squatch soap I ran across was the one branded up for Emperor Palpatine, Sinister Scrub with his face plastered on it.
I’m gonna have to go with Sydney Sweeneys bath water soap but yeah I guess sinister scrub is kinda weird.
that isn’t one I knew existed lol
At some point my partner picked up a multi pack of Squatch soap (on sale I think?). It’s fine as soaps go, and they do smell pretty good, but there’s one block in there that’s black and is packed with wood chips. It still works fine as a soap, but rinsing it off looks like the first go at washing off grease and other garage detritus.
it is interesting that the dieselgate continues to focus on Volkswagen as a brand seemingly only. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal
IMO the commercial trucks are a much bigger issue and deserve more press.
It’s also interesting that in the EU VWs are some of the less heinous of the rulebreakers. I think the big reason VW is called out (other than sensationalism) is because they got in trouble with the EPA, which seems to be a much bigger deal than getting in trouble with european agencies.
Euro company not getting in much trouble with Euro agencies, that checks out. If it had been Ford the Euro agencies would have gone medieval on their asses.
Waiting for the one that smells like an idling 60s big block w/ full race cam waiting at a redlight just before they nail it.
If the Trump EPA succeeds in eliminating tail pipe emissions standards, will that affect Dieselgate lawsuits in the US? And will diesel make a comeback in cars?
As a lawyer … I have absolutely no idea.
That will be $1200.
No. That happened when the rule was still on the books. Someone made a video about it where it concerns exhaust deletes.
It’s still crazy that Dieselgate was discovered by accident. Like holy shit imagine being those researchers, just trying to troubleshoot an issue you’re having and it leads you to uncover one of the biggest industrial scandals in decades.
College grad students asking questions no one else did.
Ambitious youngsters ftw!
So, they would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those damn kids?
At least in the early 2000’s, WVU was at or near the lead in diesel-electric hybrid research in the FutureCar/Truck program. I’m not surprised that they wanted to learn a thing or two from a manufacturer and found it.
I always wondered if Honda figured it out, and then dropped a few hints. Honda built an entire diesel engine plant in the USA on the assumption that they could duplicate VW’s DEF free diesel. They gave up, but I’m guessing they figured out how VW did it, but weren’t willing to do crimes.
Another research group I work with has told us about when they had a stock TDI in for testing, pre dieselgate, and a “new guy” couldn’t get it to meet the emissions standard on a cycle, despite trying over and over. They just gave him crap for being the new guy, and then later realized if they hadn’t assumed that the car would meet emissions, that they could have been the ones to break the news to the world, and the new guy data was actually correct.
Bold of Dr. Squatch to think that F-150 owners have any money for overpriced soap after the truck loan and repair bills are paid for.
Yep. You know what they say… Fix it again, Tony.
Did I miss somewhere that there’s a Fiat connection here?
It was lost in translation. There might be a recall for it but expect it to cost more due to tariffs.
I think I am more confused by using the acronym for Fiat when it is a Ford that is being discussed (Fiat is the acronym for Fix It Again Tony). Confusing. Maybe just me.
I was just having fun with Fiat being from Italy and this subject to the Tariffs
You’re thinking of a Fiat, Dale.
You got it.
Fix or repair daily?
The most popular vehicle among millionaires is the F-150. Of course many of those didn’t get to be millionaires spending $7 on a single bar of soap and they aren’t going to start now.
On Dieselgate, I understand they cheated the system, intentionally, but also the cars were getting better mpg, decent performance, and still weren’t spewing all the emissions all the time, and still way lower than commercial trucks, definitely not as much as my 84 Isuzu P’up diesel.
Then we go and force them to build a charging network that they didn’t give 2 sticks about, causing lack of public faith in charging infrastructure, and slower adoption of EVs, so how much in emissions did that cost?
I agree the remedy was riduculous and ended up a net negative for society. Just make them pay bigger fines and funnel the money into building a good charging network!
But they kind of were spewing emissions all the time. The computer looked for a specific set of circumstances that would indicate emissions testing and ran the engine clean.
In all other circumstances, it ran dirty.
Also C02 vs NOx is generally considered more of a problem for global warming but also more often caused by Gasoline powered engines versus higher NOx from diesel. I think the NOx limits are reduced in the EU vs the US, or at least they were. so I am not sure how much that contributed to the defeat systems happening.
You can solve the CO2 problem by planting more ferns on buildings. Lots more.
ALL THE BUILDINGS COVERED IN FERNS AND GRASSES!!!
There’s gotta’ be a fifteen syllable German word for this.
That would be: Die Selbstnochnichtvorbeidieselskandalrechtsstreitigkeitenberichtenzufolgenandauerei.
I was going to go with Fukarundundfaindautgesetz
I haven’t thought about dieselgate in a while, especially since I no longer have any of those emmision parts in my TDI. I bought one of the ‘fixed’ diesels, having been given zero heads up about the insane costs of replacing any of them when they go wrong. And boy do they go wrong. I was fortunate enough to still be under the extended warranty they offered for the first round of problems (about 4k), but once I hit about 120k miles, I was on my own, and the second set of problems left me looking at about 6k in getting a new dpf, egr valve, etc etc etc. I took the path of deleting all that, and while I never really wanted to be driving a car that wouldn’t pass emmisions in some placs, I didn’t monetarily have a choice. I wasn’t born a criminal Clarice, I was made one by years of VW abuse
I have a still-under-warranty Cayenne Diesel and thank god for that. EGR was replaced last month. This month it was a faulty high-pressure fuel sensor gasket that was spewing diesel into the engine. I’m trying to shake down all the problems before the warranty runs out in October. It’s otherwise a wonderful machine and my second 3.0 liter diesel. I can’t delete any of the emissions stuff because I have to pass emissions annually in my location, so yeah it’s always on my mind that the DPF, EGR, DEF system or any number of other things could crap out at any time. I had a 2.0l jetta sportwagen pre-dieselgate and it was bought back by VW in 2016. I loved that car but felt totally cheated on.
I’m a 2011 JSW, and I felt completely screwed over by VW, and that was after buying a fixed one. The amount of repairs before the warrantry ran out was pretty immense, not just diesel things, but basic engine stuff like the glow plugs, the pano roof had some issues, and it kinda just went on. Deleting to me was the only long term option despite not really being something I wanted to do, but the car has been (please VW don’t hurt me) pretty much fantastic since then. I live in Texas and they don’t check diesel emmisions, otherwise I would probably have had to have a friend ‘steal’ my car or just light it on fire. Pre-delete I hated it, because it was a stream on unending problems. But once I took all of that crap out and retuned the car, it’s been great.
My wife and I have a 2016 Touareg TDI we bought New (Fixed) in May 2018. She loves the car and never wants to get rid of it, but I know there is a ticking time bomb of expensive and/or hard-to-get emissions stuff in there. I’ve given her a 2-year notice that we will be dumping it before May 2028 when our TDI Warranty runs out (we drive relatively low miles, so we’ll hit the 10-year timeout before the mileage limit).
I see the F150 scented soap as an absolute win because now maybe the average F150 owner will actually shower now! Maybe we can even sell them a truck themed bidet so they wash their asses for the first time in their lives
It’s a win because once you smell that on someone, you know immediately to avoid them
Unless you need to haul something….but even in that case 9/10 have never hooked anything to their trailer hitch so you’ll have to painstakingly lead them through it
I have to say, as someone who is married to a man that has ALWAYS driven a F-something50, these are cracking me up.
That begs the question- how many of these generalizations are correct?
Hahaha, for him most of them aren’t. He’s a carpenter, so the trucks are very well used. I would say his butt is generally pretty clean since we have a bidet. He does smell after work and his work boots are so stank they’re not allowed to live in the house.
And man there are some … characters in the trades. So a lot of this is true for a lot of them.
Of course, most carpenters aren’t married to corporate lawyers that will buy fancy, butt-spraying toilets. 🙂
I drive a goddamn Hyundai that makes fart noises. It’s all in good fun.
I used Brut deodorant for nearly 40 decades, then they changed it. The distinctive Brut scent became all but non-existent, the packaging went from stating 48-hour protection to long lasting protection (which was decidedly shorter than before), and it felt like rubbing a block of plastic on your arm pit.
So I had to find a new deodorant. I ended up with one called Mint Mojito, which meh. Maybe I should try smelling like an F-150 Super Duty?
The materials required for the original formulation were plentiful over the first 350 years but quickly depleted by the rise of Brutalist architecture, forcing the manufacturer to find alternative ways to keep manliness affordable.
Dieselgate massively contributed to car companies going gung ho on electrification, only to find out the world at large isn’t quite ready for that reality. Now, there’s a bunch of industry-wide corporate back-tracking paired with market losses that have conspired to make new cars ever more unaffordable (to say nothing of the stupid tariff situation).
Great job, VW! You fucked everything up and deserve everything that is still coming to you.
I know they’re playing to the currently accepted-by-some American male ideal of being a large sub-human beast, but… “Dr. Squatch” sounds more like someone is having a really rough time taking a dump.
Not gonna lie, I had a MK IV Golf TDI that I ran up to 285,000 miles and loved, and picked up a post-dieselgate buyback TDI Jetta Sportwagen as a VW CPO in 2019 and am STILL loving it — sending my kid to college in it next week!
Driftwood? Don’t they mean cedarwood, or more likely (for men’s scents in general) sandalwood? If driftwood is from the ocean it smells like salt, and if it’s from a lake or ocean it probably smells like algae. Either has long been stripped of any scent of fresh-cut wood.
Oh I get it. Driftwood conjures thoughts of grizzled tough endurance or something. Nothing about scent at all. The ad agency knows their market I guess.
The whole F-150/Bronco thing kind of gives that away. I don’t suppose these smell anything like new car plastics and adhesives off-gassing.
“Smells like some image concept that has nothing really to do with scent.” Yes.
Can I get a scrub that smells like the diesel emissions from Volkswagen?
Maybe I could win a recalled diesel VW Golf that’s been sitting somewhere?
The heady aroma of fuel oil, deceit, and complicity.
I figure they’ve enough Golfs sitting around that my odds of winning would be pretty good.
The scent itself would be a very 2020s vibe, as you mention.
I’d chuck the soap in the trash, unless I was in a more rustic area of the country trying to find some companionship. Then I’d give it a whirl just to see what happens.
Oh boy I was really worried about Lance there for a moment. Whew.
If they wanted to be realistic about it, the Bronco should probably smell like a Whole Foods and the F150 like cheap beer.
F-150 soap scents, hmm.
Moldy rust! That’s what we’re going for. Good workshopping, people.
The packaging will have one of those abandoned 30’s cars in the woods…mmmmmmm!
That would be what the Ram soap smells like
I think many of them abandoned bud light because they collaborated with a trans woman and the F150/macro beer crowd got upset because they all found her attractive and thought someone was trying to infect them with the gay….or something like that
Don’t forget coolant, because that’s what a friend’s F-150 dumped all over my driveway when it’s water pump exploded at 90k miles.
Ash tray.
Dip spit
Gave a presentation in 2005 in my Speech for Engineers class about how diesels were the performance engines of the future. So, if somehow anyone in that classroom remembers that I guess I look like a jackass. Thanks VW.
I read this music write up in the voice of Bill Hader as Stefan from SNL.
It fit perfectly.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. This track has everything. Young popes, old popes, Roman J. Israel Esquire and dozen hot dachshunds and corgis. I call it long and low night.
Had a diesel golf that was bought in 2017. I remember it like a cheating girlfriend; good times that are tainted because it CHEATED ON ME!!!
Haven’t gone back to the VW well, and I don’t know if I ever will. Of course, I currently own a diesel Ram 2500 and it doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe I’m the problem…
Was your ram one of the emissions cheating ones?
I laugh at the Duke Canon soap boxes while the wife is shopping. Doesn’t mean I buy it.
Before the story broke I was wondering why the VW dealership near me were advertising higher than listed MPG on the car windows on the lots. Then I all of the sudden knew why. I think it is a non issue at this point as we all understand how capitalism works. I am still bothered by the GM side saddle gas tank thing and how easy they got off.
Wasn’t that shown to be an actual non-issue and TV set up job? Much like the Pinto, common practice at the time.
I do not think so: https://www.autosafety.org/history-gm-side-saddle-gas-tank-defect/
yes the media made a mistake but the issue was real.
That’s infuriating. I was aware of this issue; I had one of these trucks as a teenager in the 90’s, but I wasn’t aware that GM knew about the issue before the trucks were even released.
The fact that they determined human lives were only worth $2.20 per truck just reinforces my hatred of capitalism and large corporations.