German Cars Recalled: Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Others Could Create Diesel Crisis Over Emissions Controversy

Over 600,000 German cars are being recalled after the reveal this past year that they used diesel engines and emissions cheat devices to help them pass legal standards. Diesel fuel may be more fuel efficient, but the engines that require them often produce much higher emissions than regular engines due to using more power.

Technically, the only vehicles that actually need diesel engines are vehicles from the Ford F-350 range and higher, which pull heavy loads. However, the German cars affected aren’t that large and could be destroying the environment with their greenhouse gases in cars that could be rated as sport vehicles at best, including the Porsche.

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Volkswagen Beetles are being hit the hardest in the German car recall, as demand has dropped off for most vehicles in their inventory. The manufacturer is hoping that CUVs will create more demand as they stop making the Beetle in 2018. Consumer reaction hasn’t favored the alternative either.

The recall is hitting Europe the most, as Germany was subjected to probing over all models for emission values. It seemed the cheat devices were telling the engines to ignore the production of nitric oxide at specific temperatures, and pollution is already a problem worldwide.

Global warming has proven a problem as scientists and celebrities alike push for a cleaner environment, targeting mainly the oil industry.

The automotive industry in general is pushing toward eliminating fuel vehicles in favor of electronic cars to at least stop the emissions problem. This conversion hasn’t worked well in some vehicles, such as the Tesla Model X, which was reported to have glitches affecting doors, brakes, seat recliners, and windows. Tesla Motors is still working on a software update that solves the problem as early adapters continue to be unhappy.

Oil companies likely aren’t happy about the oncoming push for electronic vehicles, as it means a decline in a once-booming business. For now, they’re okay, as most consumers can’t afford fuel-cutting engines. Oil companies won’t be as affected by the German car recall, as it simply means more vehicles using regular fuels instead of diesel.

However, there could be a crisis in the diesel industry as vehicles that use the engines for anything less than those requiring a commercial driver’s license will be expected to comply with legal limits, be fixed, or be bought back by their respective manufacturers. This affects all German models that had been altered with the cheat devices, as well as Mitsubishi for doing the same.

BMW won’t be affected by the German car recall, as they were among the first to work toward fuel-saving technology.

German Car Makers To Recall 630,000 Vehicles https://t.co/b9D06nShB5

— Yahoo Finance UK (@YahooFinanceUK) April 22, 2016

As the emissions scandal surrounding diesel engines deepens, shares across manufacturers using them are dropping. Volkswagen agreed to buy back or fix nearly 500,000 vehicles, and the market value of Mitsubishi dropped by 40 percent.

ETX Capital head Joe Rundle stated, “As anticipated, the wrongdoing looks like it goes well beyond VW. Like PPI misselling by banks, this scandal could result in [spiraling] costs for the industry as more class actions follow. Whether the cheating at any other firms is quite on the scale of VW is another matter, but the damage to the industry’s reputation will not be easily fixed.”

Others still believe the German car recall could ruin the nation’s trust across the globe, as more environment-conscious consumers start looking into manufacturers who haven’t been involved in the diesel emissions scandal.

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