Faster, Higher, Farther Quotes

“The essence of the “made in Germany” brand is that, whatever people might think of the Germans, they’re damn good engineers. In Volkswagen’s case, it now looked as though some of the vaunted engineering was just bluff.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“At least since 1998, when truck engine makers paid one billion dollars to settle an emissions scandal, vehicle manufacturers had been on notice that getting caught trying to fool the government could be expensive. In the meantime, the technology to check auto emissions on the road had also advanced, increasing the chances of discovery. Everyone in the industry knew that—except, apparently, Volkswagen. “I was shocked,” Carder said. “After all the stuff that happened in the nineties, how could anyone do this?”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“The idea that CARB would take a closer look at the older models raised even more alarm inside Volkswagen. “We must be sure to prevent the authority from testing the Gen 1!” one employee wrote in an e-mail, referring to the first generation of clean diesels.2 “If the Gen 1 goes on to the roller at CARB, then we’ll have nothing to laugh about!!!!!”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“When Piëch returned to Wolfsburg in September 2015 for a meeting of the shareholder’s committee, arriving in a red Bentley driven by Ursula, his mere appearance sparked speculation that he was plotting a comeback.7 So formidable was Piëch’s reputation as a corporate power player that no one would believe that he was really gone until he lay in his grave, and perhaps then only if he had a stake through his heart.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“Volkswagen brought cars in for the software fix, known as a “flash action,” in early 2015, eventually updating the software in 280,000 vehicles.22 Afterward, the cars polluted less than they had, but the upgrade did not remove the illegal code.23 In fact, Volkswagen brazenly used the recall to enhance the effectiveness of the defeat device.24 The flash action programmed the cars to go into good-behavior mode when the wheels were moving but the steering wheel remained stationary, as would be the case during a lab test on rollers.25”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“In the years preceding the West Virginia University study, Volkswagen had also considered detailed proposals, made on several occasions at product strategy meetings, for improving the pollution control equipment so that emissions under normal driving conditions would better match those achieved in the lab. The proposals were rejected.8 Too expensive, Winterkorn and others said. The use of defeat devices, which may have begun as a stopgap, had become a habit and, as long as the deception remained undiscovered, a cost advantage. Now, in 2014, Volkswagen gambled against the odds that it could continue to avoid the consequences.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“In Europe, with its astronomical fuel prices, Volkswagen could market diesel on fuel economy. In the United States, where gasoline was cheaper than diesel and much less expensive than in Europe, Volkswagen needed another pitch. Positioning Volkswagen as a car for environmentally conscious drivers seemed like a clever strategy from many angles. It provided a way to attack archrival Toyota, whose hybrid Prius had become a hit and shown that people would buy a car that lent its owners a green halo. Volkswagen was not in a position to offer competing hybrids, because it had been slow to develop any. But Volkswagen was already a leader in diesel.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“As Volkswagen shares plummeted, Porsche’s obligations to Maple Bank began piling up on an almost hourly basis. At 8:14 a.m. on October 21, for example, Maple Bank confirmed in an e-mail to executives in Porsche’s finance department that it had received €300 million ($420 million) in security.15 At a few minutes after noon, a bank employee sent another e-mail to the Porsche executives advising them of their obligation to transfer another 243 million ($340 million). Porsche obliged forty minutes later. Then, at 2:10 p.m., Maple Bank asked for another €417 million ($584 million). And on it went.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“All in all, though, shareholders appreciated Piëch’s role in averting disaster in 1992 and gave him a standing ovation. It is unlikely that any of them concerned themselves with Piëch’s dictatorial style of management, or the fact that he had taken office complaining about the authoritarians in Wolfsburg, and left as the most authoritarian of them all. The important thing was the result.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“VW was like North Korea without labor camps,” Ellinghorst said, paraphrasing a description of the company once made by Der Spiegel magazine: “You have to obey everyone.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“Piëch took office on January 1, 1993. He was well aware that he was regarded with apprehension, if not hostility, by many people in the company. “Only when a company is in severe difficulty does it let in someone like me,” he wrote later.31 “In normal, calm times I never would have gotten a chance.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“Especially when driving uphill, the lighter the car, the faster it would go. To save a few pounds, some Porsche racers had aluminum fuel tanks that would easily split open in a crash, engulfing the car in flames. By Piëch’s account, four Porsche racers died during his time as head of the racing program, but none because of his designs.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“The Volkswagen had been ordered up by Hitler, financed by money confiscated from workers, and built initially in a factory staffed by forced laborers.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal

“Conceived by a totalitarian government bent on military conquest, the people’s car lived up to its name only when there was peace, when Germany was a democracy and Western ally, and the company had access to markets worldwide.”
― Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Inside Story of the Volkswagen Scandal