Final Essay

Vehicles that operate on diesel fuel help drivers save thousands of dollars on fuel each and every year. Since the introduction of diesel passenger cars in the late 1970’s (Sapienza) by German automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, diesel cars have become more popular with the everyday consumer. Diesel engines differ from gasoline engines in their composition and the way in which they use fuel. Rather than using a spark to ignite fuel, an engine running on diesel fuel uses a high compression system to combust the fuel, resulting in higher fuel economy and additional torque output (Sapienza). Ultimately, diesel cars have had a positive impact on people around the world.

In early years of diesel cars in the United States, European imports were slow,

8.5 million of the cars are outside of the United States. Among Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, and General Motors, Volkswagen ranks second in national annual sale (Gates). Over the years, Volkswagen has introduced new car models, advanced technology, and improved safety features in order to compete with American automakers. Annual cars sold worldwide by the car giant has peaked at 10 million in 2014 (Gates). With many of the new vehicles sold featuring Volkswagen’s TDI engine, the company was forced to recall millions in September of 2015. The surprising recall has caused Volkswagen’s net income to fall $6.2 billion from 2014 to after the recall was announced (Gates). Volkswagen’s corporate board forced all Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche dealerships to stop the sale of all diesel cars immediately after the recall was put into effect. This change significantly impacted Volkswagen’s sales and annual revenue. New diesel cars that were scheduled to debut later in 2015 were no longer going to be available because of the suspected

Foreign car sales have increased due to American’s desire for style and reliability at a competitive price. Due to the increased demand, Volkswagen had to improve the performance and styling of various models in order to establish credibility with the American public. In the late 2000s, when Volkswagen began debuting new car editions of diesel car models such as the Jetta, Passat, Golf, and Beetle. Audi also launched new models that featured the disputed software (Atiyeh). In previous generations of diesel German vehicles, standards were already set high. The choice the global carmaker faced was whether or not to adhere to these guidelines illegally or to jeopardize positive association with the world. In the end, the company chose to illegally program their vehicles to bypass strict EPA