5 of the Most Infamous Automotive Scandals of all time

Kuala Lumpur: Volkswagen, the German giant of the automobile industry, a global symbol of German magnificence which has been a shining epitome of the car industry because of its grandiose hiearchy and multiple subsidiaries recently got engulfed in one of the greatest automotive scandals of all time.

It all started when the US EPA (Environment Protection Agency) set the spark on the company by submitting a notice of violation (NOV) as per the Clean Air Act (CAA). According to EPA seven vehicles manufactured by the German automaker featuring a turbocharged direct injection (TDI) Clean Diesel models used “defeat devices” to circumvent a loophole among the testing for pollutants in these diesel engines giving the cars a green signal over clean emissions.

The intelligent cheating software was used to manipulate the results of actual emissions when it detected the test, deceiving regulators as to the pollutants it would emit and also putting forward a deceptive image of the fuel economy it would achieve. The mechanism was essentially used to trick regulators and hide emissions of 10 to 40 times above EPA compliant levels. Keeping all the facts aside, we note that Volkswagen isn't the first carmaker to get into the shockwave of accusations and allegations over some less noble practices which hit hard by scandal.

The truth is that car manufacturers are mega business houses and they always look out for a possible way to maximize profits and reduce operating costs. Sometimes this is for the benefit of the customers, or sometimes it becomes a catastrophic tragedy.

Some of the world's biggest automakers have a history of making really bad decisions. Here we listed out five of the most infamous automotive giant meltdown.Move ahead to check out those scandals which unleashed wrath upon their makers.

1. The Ford Pinto Recall

The Ford Pinto recall can be marked as one of the most gruesome act by the American maker, who let 900 people die but hesitated to improve Pinto's design as it would have added more production cost to the vehicle. The Pinto was designed to take on the rising tide of imports that had come to dominate the entry-level market. The car became an instant hit with a record sale of over 328,275 cars in its first year.

But the Ford Pinto had a fatal flaw beneath the bonnet. And the surprising fact was that Ford knew about it all along. The car had such a design that, a rear-end collision could result into the fuel filler neck to separate and puncture the fuel tank which resulted in spraying fuel into the passenger compartment and igniting. Mother Jones Magazine published an expose on the Ford Pinto claiming that “ For seven years, Ford Motor Company sold cars in which it knew hundreds of people would needlessly burn to death."

Ford had known this all along but tried to neglect it because it was too expensive to fix. The cost to safely upgrade the fuel system would’ve added $11 to the cost of each car and a shield to protect the tank from rupturing would have only cost $1. After this revelation, the company received heavy criticism which resulted in the recall of the Pinto for fuel tank modifications.

2. Audi’s unintended acceleration

Audi may be the luxury mogul today, but the Volkswagen-owned subsidiary faced a huge debacle in the late ’80s. This was a massive incident that nearly knocked out the German automaker from the American market. Introduced in 1982, the Audi 5000 was a good-looking sporty sedan that helped Audi to establish its empire in America as a premium luxury brand.

In November 1986, a CBS' news program ran a 60 Minutes story on the Audi 5000. This story featured interview with owners who reported a serious flaw in the car. As per the users, their cars suddenly accelerated in a segment titled "Out of Control." The reported also asserted the claim by showing images of the Audi 500 lurching forward automatically. This stirred up the automotive market causing many consumers to file lawsuits against the company. Although the NHTSA exonerated Audi in 1989 after three years of study but a 60-minute news story made the German giant collapse with the Audi 5000 sales falling from 74,000 units in 1984 to 12,000 in 1991.

3. Ford Explorer's Firestone tires disaster

Ford has always been the most popular SUV brand in America, but the brand got indicted for a flaw in the tires of its most popular SUV Ford Explorer. Ford released its all-new Explorer in 1990 and as usual the car became an instant hit in the American market. That time SUVs accounted for 7% of the U.S. auto market and by 1999 it rose to nearly 20% and were continuing to grow in popularity.

The Ford-Firestone rollover scandal of 2000 didn’t stop the popularity of the SUV, although it did ignite a nationwide panic over the rollover prone high-riding trucks. The NHTSA opened an investigation on Ford and tire manufacturer Firestone in May 2000 after accumulating 90 complaints involving four deaths tied to the automaker's vehicles fitted with Firestone tires.

By August that the NHTSA recorded over more than 60 fatalities related to rollovers of Ford Explorer SUV caused mainly because of the separation of tire treads. This resulted in a massive response by the company Firestone who subsequently recalled over 6.5 million tires. The death figure escalated to over 100 people and Ford recalled another 13 million tires.

4. Takata airbags

There have been plenty of recalls and scandals that have affected millions of vehicles, but nothing can be compared to the gigantic Takata airbag recall. One of the biggest recalls scandal of the automotive history which involved 10 of the world’s biggest automakers and affected nearly 17 million cars sold around the world. Japanese automotive supplier Takata-built air bags between 2000 and 2008 that could be affected by moisture and deploy with excess force. It was suspected that the airbag ruptures with metal housing that could shower the interior with metal shrapnel and chemicals, causing potentially fatal injuries.

An exposé in the New York Times alleged that both Takata and Honda knew about the potentially fatal flaw as early as 2004, but they hesitated to report it to NHTSA. But the truth came out and, as a result, the U.S. government fined Honda with a $70 million and Takata with a $14,000 for each day of not cooperating with the federal investigation. As for now there are 10 automakers around the globe currently trying to fix the issue because it is estimated that as many as 30 million cars running around the world could have these dangerous airbags.

5. The GM ignition coverup

The Chevy Cobalt is a less known name in the automotive history, the car came and got vanished early. But the Cobalt did place its name in the history alongside the Ford Pinto as one of the most recklessly built and dangerous cars ever sold. In 2007, Chevy recalled 98,000 of the cars because they were not less with the apt safety standards. After that in 2010, the car was recalled because of its faulty power steering system which led to the recall of an additional 1.3 million cars. But what most defamed the car was its faulty ignition switch that caused the cars to shut off at speed resulting in deactivation of safety systems like airbags and anti-lock brakes, and lead to potentially fatal accidents.

Like most of the manufacturers here also GM knew about the defective part as early as 2004 but didn't reported it as it was too costly to fix. Later the company finally gathered guts and decided to address the issue in 2006. GM replaced the defective part with an updated one with the same serial number, effectively covering the problem up.

After the car caused 13 deaths in nine years GM finally decided to issue 2.6 million recalls for the Cobalt and the nearly identical Pontiac G5. But still the problem was not over for the company, as it faced a $10 billion civil suit that could bring the mighty automaker to its knees. GM’s lawyers argued that the faulty cobalt was manufactured by the old General Motors which went bankrupt in 2009 and the newly restructured corporation should not be held responsible for the matter. Well, the GM is trying to clear off the blame but as reported the death toll from the faulty ignitions risen to 90.

Check out the next part of this story at: 5 of the Most Infamous Automotive Scandals of all time – 2