0:00:00.258,0:00:13.181
33c3 preroll music
0:00:13.181,0:00:16.855
applause
0:00:16.855,0:00:22.610
Herald: So, has anyone of you heard of[br]Rolling Coal? It's a mostly American
0:00:22.610,0:00:29.151
phenomenon of modifying your car in such a[br]way as to maximize the emissions so they
0:00:29.151,0:00:38.530
are visible as a big black cloud of smoke.[br]Apparently I heard that VW cars are now
0:00:38.530,0:00:45.580
very popular among the friends of Rolling[br]Coal. But let's not joke so much and focus
0:00:45.580,0:00:52.720
on the topic at hand. Daniel Lange has the[br]mission to stop the omissions of emissions
0:00:52.720,0:00:57.533
at VW. He spoke to hundreds[br]of people since...
0:00:57.533,0:01:08.840
laughter[br]applause
0:01:08.840,0:01:13.100
Last year he also gave a talk together[br]with a colleague about the same topic and
0:01:13.100,0:01:16.920
since then he has spoken to hundreds of[br]people and has gained some new insides
0:01:16.920,0:01:21.450
that he will now share with us. I welcome[br]you to Dieselgate—one year later.
0:01:21.450,0:01:24.960
applause
0:01:24.960,0:01:33.170
Daniel Lange: Thanks very much. Can you[br]hear me? Okay. Wonderful. Thank you very
0:01:33.170,0:01:37.970
much. A very quick announcement: The talk[br]will be about 40 minutes, so if you have
0:01:37.970,0:01:42.860
to leave after 30 minutes because you have[br]a dinner appointment or something like
0:01:42.860,0:01:48.780
that, please do so quietly. I was really[br]unable to reduce the slides down much
0:01:48.780,0:01:57.640
further without taking all the jokes away.[br]So, my name is Daniel Lange. I have worked
0:01:57.640,0:02:02.060
on the Dieselgate stuff on and off over[br]the last year because I worked with press,
0:02:02.060,0:02:10.560
so I worked with litigation people. And[br]last year I was here because I felt that
0:02:10.560,0:02:17.141
this Volkswagen notion of there being this[br]“rogue group of engineers” was so
0:02:17.141,0:02:20.980
utterly wrong, and everybody in the[br]automotive industry actually knows this,
0:02:20.980,0:02:26.530
that I just felt I had to speak up. And I[br]don't know why, but they kind of keep
0:02:26.530,0:02:30.969
motivating me to come back and point out[br]their lies, so that's actually what I'm
0:02:30.969,0:02:36.310
going to do. I myself have worked for 16[br]years in the automotive industry. 14 years
0:02:36.310,0:02:41.810
of that at a Bavarian manufacturer that's[br]not located in Ingolstadt.
0:02:41.810,0:02:43.980
laughter
0:02:43.980,0:02:48.599
And I run my own company, right,[br]Faster IT here is a consultancy, but we
0:02:48.599,0:02:52.370
don't work for the automotive industry,[br]right, so that's why I can actually talk
0:02:52.370,0:02:59.569
here and don't have much of an issue.[br]Hello, next slide, okay, this was broken
0:02:59.569,0:03:07.250
in the process, so I'm fixed here. I can't[br]walk. So everybody basically cheated,
0:03:07.250,0:03:13.250
right? The emissions thing is not a[br]Volkswagen scandal. It's Dieselgate. It's
0:03:13.250,0:03:20.579
something where nearly everybody basically[br]has an issue. So this is why I'd actually
0:03:20.579,0:03:27.719
like to show you this slide to just, you[br]know, relieve my conscience. This is about
0:03:27.719,0:03:32.450
the temperature window. This is kind of[br]the second last finding that came out in
0:03:32.450,0:03:38.870
the middle of this year, that basically[br]everybody has a temperature window, where
0:03:38.870,0:03:44.810
they reduce and at some point in time[br]switch off the emissions treatment system.
0:03:44.810,0:03:51.439
And if like at Opel, which Felix is going[br]to talk about later a bit more, or Nissan
0:03:51.439,0:03:57.669
or Audi for example, these kick in at[br]17°C, that kind of has a flavour to it,
0:03:57.669,0:04:02.690
that has a taste to it, because the[br]testing is being done at 20°C and there's
0:04:02.690,0:04:09.980
a 2°C margin of error. So that means,[br]testing can be at 18°C to 22°C and if
0:04:09.980,0:04:13.629
you're starting to switch off your[br]emissions treatment at 17°C, you just
0:04:13.629,0:04:18.709
start to switch it off, like in most[br]real-life situations in northern Europe or
0:04:18.709,0:04:24.370
in the States, but you're sure it's[br]available when the car has been properly
0:04:24.370,0:04:31.590
set up for testing. So, sadly so that's[br]the only slide I'm going to show, which is
0:04:31.590,0:04:36.150
not on Volkswagen, so I'm also guilty of[br]not putting enough focus on the others,
0:04:36.150,0:04:40.919
but Volkswagen is just so entertaining[br]that, you know, I can't make that up with
0:04:40.919,0:04:47.360
anybody else. So, this is the money slide.[br]This is kind of to update you in case you
0:04:47.360,0:04:52.530
have been living under a rock for the[br]last, I don't know, six months. There's
0:04:52.530,0:04:59.360
two class action suits. Class action suits[br]are a legislation in the States which
0:04:59.360,0:05:06.580
allows to collect actions from individual[br]people that have owned a Volkswagen and
0:05:06.580,0:05:13.050
have been betrayed together and they have[br]split the solution to these class action
0:05:13.050,0:05:17.720
suits into two, because on the 2 liter it[br]was rather easy—Volkswagen said: “Yes,
0:05:17.720,0:05:21.389
we cheated.”—, but on the 3 liter they[br]maintained for quite a long time that they
0:05:21.389,0:05:25.740
didn't cheat, so there were extended[br]negotiations. And what you see here is
0:05:25.740,0:05:31.530
basically a breakdown of the overall cost,[br]which is currently estimated to be in the
0:05:31.530,0:05:37.970
$ 12 billion range for settling these. For[br]the 2.0 liters, Volkswagen basically has
0:05:37.970,0:05:43.930
to buy them back. A bit more on this[br]later. And for the 3.0s they have split
0:05:43.930,0:05:49.229
them into a Generation 1, which they also[br]buy back, and a Generation 2 and those
0:05:49.229,0:05:54.409
vehicles will be getting a new catalyst,[br]they will be getting up to three new
0:05:54.409,0:05:59.960
sensors, they will get a turbine mixer for[br]the injection of the Diesel emission
0:05:59.960,0:06:05.240
fluid, they will get a new Diesel emission[br]fluid—Ad Blue is the brand name—dosing
0:06:05.240,0:06:12.210
valve. All of these have to be approved by[br]the EPA and if it is approved, Volkswagen
0:06:12.210,0:06:16.879
can retrofit it. If not, they also have to[br]buy back the vehicles, so this is why it
0:06:16.879,0:06:20.870
says “GOTO 1” there, right, because[br]then they will be treated the same as
0:06:20.870,0:06:24.259
Generation 1. Now if you compare that—I[br]don't know whether you saw the talk last
0:06:24.259,0:06:29.169
year—in Europe there is this plastic[br]tube, this flow rectifier, a kind of, I
0:06:29.169,0:06:35.090
don't know, 3 Euro part, which is put into[br]your car and all is well, right? Now,
0:06:35.090,0:06:40.080
okay, that's, you know? Honestly, 2 liter[br]engines, 3 liter engines, they are
0:06:40.080,0:06:43.960
different. 4 cylinders, 6 cylinders, but,[br]you know, I guess everybody, you don't
0:06:43.960,0:06:47.470
need to work in the automotive industry to[br]understand that a plastic part for 3 Euro
0:06:47.470,0:06:52.620
and some better flow calculations are not[br]the same as investing substantially in
0:06:52.620,0:06:59.069
each car to really equip it with what it[br]should have been equipped with right from
0:06:59.069,0:07:05.180
the beginning. So that's kind of the[br]settlement there. The process is quite
0:07:05.180,0:07:12.380
interesting. Volkswagen has to reach 85%[br]of all customers bringing in their vehicle
0:07:12.380,0:07:17.400
for fix or buying back those vehicles. If[br]not, there will be additional penalties.
0:07:17.400,0:07:23.550
So that's the way that the US folks[br]actually make sure that this is successful
0:07:23.550,0:07:29.009
and somebody in the States gets like[br]$ 10,000 to 20,000 on top of the value of
0:07:29.009,0:07:35.879
their car. So that's kind of quite[br]substantial. For the States themselves
0:07:35.879,0:07:39.900
this is also quite interesting, because[br]the last lines you're seeing there is
0:07:39.900,0:07:46.620
$ 2.7 billion on the 2.0 settlement and[br]another $ 225 million on the 3.0 liter
0:07:46.620,0:07:52.580
settlement. They go into an environmental[br]trust and this is then used to, you know,
0:07:52.580,0:07:59.949
buy new bus fleets, build up forests, do[br]infrastructure for zero emission vehicles
0:07:59.949,0:08:04.979
and so on and so on. So there's a lot of[br]money actually being available now to the
0:08:04.979,0:08:10.570
government of the United States, and[br]Canada has settled for a very similar
0:08:10.570,0:08:14.819
thing, to actually do good for the[br]environment and set off the damage that
0:08:14.819,0:08:20.360
Volkswagen has done to the environment.[br]There's an unofficial figure which I
0:08:20.360,0:08:23.789
didn't put on the slides, so the press[br]people that only read the slides don't get
0:08:23.789,0:08:29.870
it, so they really need to see the talk,[br]Bosch seems to have settled for a $ 300
0:08:29.870,0:08:36.558
million fine as well, so they will pay[br]$ 300 million into the fund to offset their
0:08:36.558,0:08:41.260
participation in the Dieselgate. I think[br]you probably remember that we were
0:08:41.260,0:08:46.610
discussing how much did Bosch know last[br]year and we basically showed that it's not
0:08:46.610,0:08:52.080
possible to do this type of cheating[br]without a close cooperation between the
0:08:52.080,0:08:56.950
supplier of the electronic control unit,[br]which is Bosch in this case, and the OEM,
0:08:56.950,0:09:01.570
which is the Volkswagen group. The[br]callback process itself is quite
0:09:01.570,0:09:07.340
interesting as well. This is the form that[br]you have to fill when you bring in your
0:09:07.340,0:09:12.920
car and Volkswagen has hired more than 700[br]people in the States just to conduct this
0:09:12.920,0:09:18.460
process. So this is not only, you know,[br]about $ 5 billion to the environment and
0:09:18.460,0:09:23.211
to zero emission vehicles and building up[br]the infrastructure, it is also really a
0:09:23.211,0:09:27.540
job machine, because at every dealer's[br]there is a dedicated person taking care of
0:09:27.540,0:09:33.030
this process and there are 700 people that[br]run it for Volkswagen central in the USA.
0:09:33.030,0:09:38.830
I find this mildly funny here, because in[br]the process they're actually making you
0:09:38.830,0:09:46.540
fill that your car has gone the milage[br]which is shown on the odometer, so about
0:09:46.540,0:09:54.840
30%-40% of our old cars sold in Germany[br]have falsified odometer readings. This is
0:09:54.840,0:09:59.260
really another scandal. This is something[br]that is not being so widely reported on,
0:09:59.260,0:10:04.030
but if you buy a used car, you have a[br]chance of one in three, that it's actually
0:10:04.030,0:10:10.010
a car that is not worth the money you're[br]paying. And it's so easy to fix this
0:10:10.010,0:10:16.530
problem, but the OEMs don't seem to have[br]an interest to do it. And the outcome here
0:10:16.530,0:10:21.340
is that actually Volkswagen tells you:[br]“By law you are required to give an
0:10:21.340,0:10:25.600
honest statement on how many miles does[br]that car actually have”. You know, it's
0:10:25.600,0:10:29.140
quite funny that they actually are bitten[br]by the same problem which they have
0:10:29.140,0:10:38.700
ignored in the market for a long time.[br]Okay. So, the thing is, the official
0:10:38.700,0:10:46.200
narrative from Volkswagen is, they want to[br]buy back transparency and trust to their
0:10:46.200,0:10:57.490
customers. This is from Mr. Müller, who[br]is the CEO of Volkswagen group at this
0:10:57.490,0:11:02.660
time: “From the very start I have pushed[br]hard for the relentless and comprehensive
0:11:02.660,0:11:08.040
clarification of events. We will stop at[br]nothing and nobody. This is a painful
0:11:08.040,0:11:13.520
process, but it is our only alternative.[br]For us, the only thing that counts is the
0:11:13.520,0:11:17.980
truth. This is the basis for the[br]fundamental realignment that Volkswagen
0:11:17.980,0:11:22.570
needs. The Board of Management of[br]Volkswagen deeply regrets this situation
0:11:22.570,0:11:27.050
and wishes to underscore its determination[br]to systematically continue along the
0:11:27.050,0:11:30.910
present path of clarification[br]and transparency.”
0:11:30.910,0:11:33.000
Can I have an applause[br]for this please?
0:11:33.000,0:11:35.160
applause
0:11:35.160,0:11:39.700
Thank you very much. And, you know,[br]because heads of states and ministers
0:11:39.700,0:11:45.440
don't read press clippings, they actually[br]write letters like these to every head of
0:11:45.440,0:11:50.120
state, to every minister in Europe, at[br]least as much as I could verify, where
0:11:50.120,0:11:55.440
they personally update the ministers to,[br]you know, give them the latest
0:11:55.440,0:12:01.101
claims—this is from May 2016, so it's,[br]you know, half a year later and you can
0:12:01.101,0:12:04.971
read it here, it's the same narrative as,[br]you know, “we're doing well” and, you
0:12:04.971,0:12:07.730
know, “we keep you informed” and, you[br]know, “there's no need to listen to
0:12:07.730,0:12:18.470
anybody else. We own the narrative. We are[br]actually informing you”. So, let's check
0:12:18.470,0:12:26.190
one thing. Hello? Thank you. Right when[br]the Dieselgate scandal broke there were
0:12:26.190,0:12:32.050
two things. There was the NOx issue,[br]which has clarified that it's a real
0:12:32.050,0:12:35.500
problem, that there are defeat devices in[br]the engines. They are being fixed. And
0:12:35.500,0:12:39.600
there was the CO2 issue. The CO2 issue[br]was pretty clear, because, you know, the
0:12:39.600,0:12:44.190
cars actually consume much more fuel than[br]the sticker rating says, so there must be
0:12:44.190,0:12:49.260
a problem there, right? There is a problem[br]there, but Volkswagen called it off really
0:12:49.260,0:12:55.750
quickly and this is my Maha moment, right?[br]Martin Haase is here. If you read that
0:12:55.750,0:13:00.200
line here: “No unlawful change to the[br]stated fuel consumption and CO2 figures
0:13:00.200,0:13:07.060
found to date” right? So there is[br]Volkswagen saying: “We didn't find
0:13:07.060,0:13:11.731
anything to date.” Now that kind of, you[br]know, that's a pointer, right? So, let's
0:13:11.731,0:13:17.670
keep on looking. This is from November[br]this year. This is a new class action suit
0:13:17.670,0:13:23.690
and Audi in this case here is sued,[br]because inside their gearbox, inside their
0:13:23.690,0:13:28.291
automatic gearbox there is yet another[br]defeat device. There is a defeat device
0:13:28.291,0:13:34.000
that actually makes this car drive like a[br]dog, so it shifts up really early, it
0:13:34.000,0:13:39.560
doesn't provide any torque, but that is[br]sufficient to run through test cycles and
0:13:39.560,0:13:43.740
obviously, if the car doesn't have any[br]power, it consumes very little fuel and
0:13:43.740,0:13:50.120
thus you get very good sticker ratings and[br]you get very good CO2 emissions. So, we
0:13:50.120,0:13:56.070
found it, right? Felix will give a bit[br]more details on the technical side here,
0:13:56.070,0:13:59.260
but this is a class action suit, so this[br]is the same thing, which they have settled
0:13:59.260,0:14:03.720
for with the engines now running for the[br]gearbox and the module in the engines that
0:14:03.720,0:14:15.330
cooperates with those gearboxes here. Next[br]fact check. Warranties. Volkswagen refuses
0:14:15.330,0:14:21.400
to give warranties in Europe. So, you[br]know, we're only getting those cheap
0:14:21.400,0:14:29.360
fixes, but then people like the ADAC, the[br]German biggest car owners' club, asks:
0:14:29.360,0:14:34.100
“Couldn't you please kindly at least[br]give us a warranty? Can't you warrant that
0:14:34.100,0:14:39.970
it will not have a negative effect on the[br]car?” And Volkswagen says: “No, we
0:14:39.970,0:14:43.601
can't. We'll give you a certificate. We'll[br]give you a paper, but it's not a
0:14:43.601,0:14:49.350
warranty.” And this is 'juristische[br]Feinheiten', so this is legal intricacies,
0:14:49.350,0:14:55.431
right? We can't do this, It's very sorry,[br]but you'll get a paper. Now if you look at
0:14:55.431,0:15:01.420
the States, this is the settlement, which[br]came out on 20th of December, so the
0:15:01.420,0:15:06.751
second part of the settlement and the[br]American customers get a 10 year warranty
0:15:06.751,0:15:14.470
or 120,000 miles, which is about 200,000[br]kilometers and they get 4 years or 48,000
0:15:14.470,0:15:20.840
miles after the fitting the new catalyst[br]and all the other stuff insight the car.
0:15:20.840,0:15:24.070
So that means not only do they get a stash[br]of money, not only do they get their cars
0:15:24.070,0:15:28.720
properly fixed, they also get a warranty[br]that the proper fix is proper and if not,
0:15:28.720,0:15:33.880
Volkswagen has to redo it. So, you see[br]that it's possible, but there's a huge
0:15:33.880,0:15:38.840
discrepancy between the American legal[br]system that forces a company to do this
0:15:38.840,0:15:42.980
and the European legal system that[br]apparently does not have any scare factor
0:15:42.980,0:15:49.160
or any lever to motivate them to give a[br]warranty. And they're not giving it by
0:15:49.160,0:15:53.120
free will, right? They could. They could[br]just be generous and say like: “Of
0:15:53.120,0:15:57.390
course. We fucked up. Sorry, we'll give a[br]warranty.” But they've been asked over
0:15:57.390,0:16:04.800
and over and over again and they've[br]refused to do this. So, Jack Ewing from
0:16:04.800,0:16:09.810
the New York Times, one of the few really[br]good journalists working on that topic put
0:16:09.810,0:16:14.470
it well: “In the US, VW owners get cash.[br]In Europe, they get plastic tubes.”
0:16:14.470,0:16:23.080
applause
0:16:23.080,0:16:26.140
And there's another thing I want to point[br]out to you. We ran this here in the
0:16:26.140,0:16:33.530
Süddeutsche Zeitung a few days ago.[br]Volkswagen says, it wants transparency,
0:16:33.530,0:16:40.740
but what it does is, it actually goes and[br]keeps as much information secret as
0:16:40.740,0:16:49.470
possible. So in this case here, every time[br]somebody sues Volkswagen, they settle and
0:16:49.470,0:16:52.620
they used to be settling in court,[br]which means, you could get the
0:16:52.620,0:16:56.340
information, you know, what was the[br]settlement value? Did they buy back the
0:16:56.340,0:16:59.990
car? And now they've learned and they[br]settle out of court, because then the
0:16:59.990,0:17:06.108
court only records that the two parties[br]have settled, you know, somebody pays the
0:17:06.108,0:17:09.569
fee for the court, which is only a few[br]hundred Euros and everything is fine. And
0:17:09.569,0:17:13.608
you don't find out what the settlement is.[br]So this is something which they're now
0:17:13.608,0:17:20.319
doing quite on a big scale and the thing[br]here is, we have a very odd situation. The
0:17:20.319,0:17:25.949
Kraftfahrtbundesamt says: “You need to[br]do the recall”, but legally they have
0:17:25.949,0:17:31.451
not ordered the recall. So this is[br]something that is voluntary. Well
0:17:31.451,0:17:36.200
voluntary actually means, it's voluntary[br]for both sides. Volkswagen voluntarily
0:17:36.200,0:17:41.410
fixes the car and you voluntarily agree to[br]have the car fixed. If you don't want to
0:17:41.410,0:17:46.240
have that voluntary agreement, you can[br]sue. And we can't do this as a class
0:17:46.240,0:17:51.411
action suit. You can't do this like in the[br]States so it's done once and for all. It
0:17:51.411,0:17:54.880
has to be going through the regional[br]courts and everywhere, but the pattern we
0:17:54.880,0:18:01.640
are seeing as Volkswagen is afraid of[br]getting actually judges to trial this and
0:18:01.640,0:18:06.820
actually get fines and have to buy back[br]the cars, so they settle quite generously
0:18:06.820,0:18:12.040
outside of court. The downside is, when[br]people settle, they need to subscribe to a
0:18:12.040,0:18:15.920
non disclosure agreement, to keep[br]everything silent, and they put really
0:18:15.920,0:18:21.670
hefty sums on this, so there's like five[br]figure Euro sums that people have to pay.
0:18:21.670,0:18:26.930
So they kind of get their car bought back[br]for, you know, a few thousand Dollars or
0:18:26.930,0:18:31.670
Euros on top and then, if they were[br]talking about it, they would be having to
0:18:31.670,0:18:38.100
pay hefty fines to Volkswagen. So that's[br]the way they keep people quiet. Another
0:18:38.100,0:18:44.660
way, which is quite interesting, is a[br]court case which is running at the
0:18:44.660,0:18:52.420
Landgericht Paderborn actually asked Mr.[br]Winterkorn to come around and testify. And
0:18:52.420,0:18:57.040
he's a witness, so, you know, courts can[br]ask witnesses to show up. But Mr.
0:18:57.040,0:19:02.620
Winterkorn actually said: “No, sorry,[br]sorry. I would like to have my right to
0:19:02.620,0:19:10.860
remain silent on it.” Remaining silent[br]is a legal privilege against self
0:19:10.860,0:19:17.160
incrimination. So you cannot be forced to[br]say something in court which will be later
0:19:17.160,0:19:22.430
causing a problem to yourself. But the[br]issue here is, Volkswagen always said:
0:19:22.430,0:19:26.411
“You know, he's not our boss anymore. We[br]continue to pay him and he gets a hefty,
0:19:26.411,0:19:31.010
hefty income still for sitting at home[br]and, I don't know, watching TV or watching
0:19:31.010,0:19:33.510
this talk.” Hi!
0:19:33.510,0:19:34.980
laughter
0:19:34.980,0:22:31.820
The thing is, if the narrative is true and[br]he didn't know, he can go to court and he
0:19:43.520,0:19:50.340
can say: “I didn't know”. He may be on[br]oath, so that means, he has to really be
0:19:50.340,0:19:54.720
sure that he didn't know, but that's the[br]only thing that could happen. But they're
0:19:54.720,0:19:59.840
fighting this really hard. So in this case[br]here, that's an invitation for 20th of
0:19:59.840,0:20:05.400
January. On 20th of January the court will[br]have a hearing only on the fact of Mr.
0:20:05.400,0:20:10.670
Winterkorn having to show up and testify,[br]so the thing is another pattern which
0:20:10.670,0:20:15.600
we're seeing here and that pattern is:[br]Volkswagen is trying to delay everything
0:20:15.600,0:20:19.650
as much as they can. So in this case[br]they're not saying: “Yeah, we'll bring
0:20:19.650,0:20:23.410
him along and, you know, yes, there will[br]be some press, but, you know, we fucked
0:20:23.410,0:20:28.520
up, so, you know, that's fair.” They[br]delay everything as much as they can.
0:20:28.520,0:20:34.250
We think, the legal issue behind this is,[br]they granted an extension on the deadlines
0:20:34.250,0:20:41.340
for cases to be brought against them until[br]31st of December next year. So we think,
0:20:41.340,0:20:45.350
they kind of reconsidered and are now[br]trying to drag everything out beyond that
0:20:45.350,0:20:49.860
deadline. Because legally, because there's[br]no class action suits here in Germany,
0:20:49.860,0:20:55.160
that means the right to sue has voided[br]because of the time when people bought the
0:20:55.160,0:21:00.660
cars and, you know, there's warranties of[br]two years and that's it. So that's kind
0:21:00.660,0:21:04.680
of, you know, what's probably happening[br]and that's probably the tactics, which is
0:21:04.680,0:21:11.710
behind that. Okay, one thing for the[br]journalists: This is a list from Rogert &
0:21:11.710,0:21:16.770
Ulbrich, who are lawyers working on the[br]Volkswagen cases, of all the German court
0:21:16.770,0:21:22.240
cases where Volkswagen was forced to buy[br]back, compensate or terminate the leases.
0:21:22.240,0:21:26.390
So they are happening and the red ones[br]here are Oberlandesgerichte. They're like
0:21:26.390,0:21:32.740
higher level courts. But I guess, you,[br]like me, have not really seen much press
0:21:32.740,0:21:37.460
reporting on this. And that's one of the[br]issues here. The Volkswagen people are
0:21:37.460,0:21:42.350
very good at communicating to the press,[br]doing regular press clippings, have all
0:21:42.350,0:21:48.600
the good marketing and advertising running[br]and journalists need to do tedious work.
0:21:48.600,0:21:53.550
They need to go to those courts and say,[br]like, you know: “Can I please have the
0:21:53.550,0:21:57.810
documentation?” And they need to write a[br]piece on that and stuff like that. So, we
0:21:57.810,0:22:02.020
really need to get the message over to the[br]journalists that it would be really cool
0:22:02.020,0:22:06.780
if they were reporting both sides of the[br]picture, because then actually the people
0:22:06.780,0:22:11.450
that read the magazines, that read the[br]Internet and possibly newspapers, if
0:22:11.450,0:22:17.050
people still do that, they will actually[br]get a more fair picture, because this
0:22:17.050,0:22:20.870
information here is out there. It's[br]available for grabs, if you have all the
0:22:20.870,0:22:27.850
Aktenzeichen here, so, please folks, pick[br]it up and write some pieces on this.
0:22:27.850,0:22:34.840
applause
0:22:34.840,0:22:42.300
One of the things I predicted in 2015 was[br]accidental data loss, right? Because
0:22:42.300,0:22:48.450
always when these big things happen and,[br]in the States the thing is, you actually
0:22:48.450,0:22:56.300
get the right to request the other party[br]to produce data for you. So, it's
0:22:56.300,0:23:02.400
different from the way it's here in[br]Europe, and that's kind of a very big
0:23:02.400,0:23:08.670
tool. It's quite logical that it's very[br]hard for the incriminated side to go and
0:23:08.670,0:23:13.860
produce all the material that will[br]actually proof that it has betrayed, that
0:23:13.860,0:23:18.850
it has committed fraud and so on. So, it[br]was a quite sure bet and here is the
0:23:18.850,0:23:23.900
result. We have two incidents here: The[br]one on the top is a gentleman called
0:23:23.900,0:23:27.450
Daniel Donovan. He worked as an[br]information manager at the general
0:23:27.450,0:23:33.890
counsel's in the legal team of Volkswagen[br]group of America and he said: “I
0:23:33.890,0:23:39.090
questioned whether you are actually[br]preserving evidence well.” And this is
0:23:39.090,0:23:44.880
why he was fired. And then they[br]settled. So, there is an agreement or a
0:23:44.880,0:23:51.650
communication here again by Jack Ewing[br]reported, which is word by word the same
0:23:51.650,0:23:56.070
between his legal team and the Volkswagen[br]legal team and they agreed on very
0:23:56.070,0:24:01.090
amicable terms. And it was settled out of[br]court, so we don't know how much he was
0:24:01.090,0:24:06.620
paid. And then there is another lawsuit.[br]I didn't give the name here, because it's
0:24:06.620,0:24:10.360
not publicly known. You can find it out if[br]you know how to use Google, but it's not
0:24:10.360,0:24:15.260
very publicly known. There was a German[br]law advisor at Volkswagen and he requested
0:24:15.260,0:24:19.630
his colleagues to delete documents. So he[br]basically wrote an email to his colleagues
0:24:19.630,0:24:23.340
and said, like: “You know, we're getting[br]under pressure. Please delete all
0:24:23.340,0:24:27.120
incriminating stuff.” That's not a very[br]cool thing to do if you're a company
0:24:27.120,0:24:34.130
lawyer. And then we have the FTC, the[br]Federal Trade Commission, and they brought
0:24:34.130,0:24:38.590
a lawsuit against Volkswagen because,[br]read the first line here, they lost or
0:24:38.590,0:24:46.930
accidentally erased 23 mobile phones. I[br]don't know. These things just, you know,
0:24:46.930,0:24:54.760
whoop, another one gone. I don't know.[br]The other issue they had is, Volkswagen
0:24:54.760,0:25:00.820
brought a witness and they said: “This[br]witness was either unprepared or unable to
0:25:00.820,0:25:06.290
provide information because 250 times[br]he said: “I don't know” to all the
0:25:06.290,0:25:11.020
questions. And the funny thing is, and[br]here we have another Maha moment of
0:25:11.020,0:25:15.520
over-communication, in the reply[br]Volkswagen said: “Oh, he was very well
0:25:15.520,0:25:20.180
prepared. We spent 20 days with him,[br]just preparing for that deposition.”
0:25:20.180,0:25:29.840
laughter + applause
0:25:29.840,0:25:37.850
So it took Volkswagen 20 days to make[br]one engineer say “I don't know” a
0:25:37.850,0:25:45.940
sufficient amount of times. Okay, so why do[br]we all have this problem in Europe, right?
0:25:45.940,0:25:49.730
It seems to be working in the States[br]somehow. Where does that come from? And
0:25:49.730,0:25:54.610
the root cause here is actually copy and[br]paste regulation, or regulation by Stack
0:25:54.610,0:26:00.810
Overflow, or however you want to call it.[br]The thing on the upper side is the
0:26:00.810,0:26:05.270
American regulation. They define two[br]things. And I'm sorry, you won't be able
0:26:05.270,0:26:09.200
to read it all, but the slides are being[br]made public and then you can dig into
0:26:09.200,0:26:14.050
this. But the basic idea here is, the[br]Americans define Auxiliary Emission
0:26:14.050,0:26:21.130
Control Devices, so things that actually[br]modify some physical values which have an
0:26:21.130,0:26:27.870
effect on emissions. And then there's a[br]defeat device. A defeat device is an AECD
0:26:27.870,0:26:31.480
which reduces the effectiveness of[br]emission control, so it doesn't improve it
0:26:31.480,0:26:40.220
for example, and in many cases it is not[br]disclosed, so you may have AECDs. You may
0:26:40.220,0:26:43.930
even have AECDs that reduce the[br]effectiveness of an emission control
0:26:43.930,0:26:47.791
system and those are then called defects.[br]And there's an amount of defects which
0:26:47.791,0:26:51.640
you’re allowed to have. And the amount of[br]defects decreases from year to year, so
0:26:51.640,0:26:56.250
that is a way to steer the automotive[br]industry into compliance. A very clever
0:26:56.250,0:27:01.550
system. Now whoever wrote the law for the[br]European Union actually just copied and
0:27:01.550,0:27:05.510
pasted, which you can see because you'll[br]find all the same words there, and there's
0:27:05.510,0:27:09.790
a second slide coming up and you'll find[br]more of the definition here at the top,
0:27:09.790,0:27:15.701
vehicle speed, engine RPM, transmission,[br]manifold vacuum and so on. And, so, they
0:27:15.701,0:27:20.080
just copied and pasted and thought like,[br]“We don't need AECDs”, you know, they
0:27:20.080,0:27:24.590
just say: “A defeat device is an AECD,[br]so, let's ditch the AECD.” It's like,
0:27:24.590,0:27:29.270
you know, people that copy and paste or[br]Debian working on the random number
0:27:29.270,0:27:33.190
generator. It's like, you know, “I don't[br]understand that code. It doesn't seem to
0:27:33.190,0:27:37.130
be used. Let's ditch it.” And so they[br]did “I don't understand AECDs. They
0:27:37.130,0:27:40.450
don't really … necessary. Ditch it.”[br]But the problem here is, this is
0:27:40.450,0:27:44.570
why Volkswagen can actually say: “We[br]don't have a defeat device.” And the way
0:27:44.570,0:27:56.670
they say it is again very lovely. They[br]say: “We have no unlawful defeat device
0:27:56.670,0:27:59.370
under European law”, right?
0:27:59.370,0:28:01.090
laughter
0:28:01.090,0:28:05.570
So we have a defeat device, but it's not[br]unlawful and not under European law. And
0:28:05.570,0:28:10.140
they clarify this and say: “The[br]efficiency of emissions cleanup systems
0:28:10.140,0:28:14.910
will not be reduced in those vehicles,[br]which however would be a prerequisite for
0:28:14.910,0:28:21.350
the existence of an unlawful defeat device[br]in the legal sense.” So that's a quote.
0:28:21.350,0:28:25.640
So what that actually means is, they found[br]the loophole and the loophole is there
0:28:25.640,0:28:31.710
because people have been doing bad copy[br]and paste regulation. Okay, now, the other
0:28:31.710,0:28:37.160
problem the European Union has, is that[br]it's herding cats and the only tool it has
0:28:37.160,0:28:41.880
is this one very long stick, which is the[br]EU Treaty infringement process,
0:28:41.880,0:28:50.410
Vertragsverletzungsverfahren in German.[br]So, the thing here is, they actually would
0:28:50.410,0:28:55.210
want to have proper emissions'[br]regulations, but they can't, because it
0:28:55.210,0:29:00.740
needs to be put into local laws and there[br]are 3 countries that didn't put any
0:29:00.740,0:29:06.960
sanctioning mechanisms in place over 7[br]years and there are 4 countries which
0:29:06.960,0:29:12.360
didn't use those sanctioning mechanisms.[br]One of them is Germany, obviously.
0:29:12.360,0:29:17.840
Actually the UK will probably evade this[br]because they can just sit it out. Brexit.
0:29:17.840,0:29:23.450
Okay, so this guy here, he was really[br]really pissed because Fiat didn't show up
0:29:23.450,0:29:27.809
when he said: “But you are actually[br]emitting way to much. We caught you in our
0:29:27.809,0:29:33.760
lovely report, which we made. So would you[br]please show up and, you know, we'll really
0:29:33.760,0:29:39.420
tell you off.” And Fiat said: “You[br]know, we're an Italian company. We are
0:29:39.420,0:29:44.940
regulated in Italy. We will answer to the[br]Italian people, but we don't really want
0:29:44.940,0:29:48.780
to chat with you.” So he was really[br]pissed. He made a press report, that was
0:29:48.780,0:29:53.170
from the press report, and said like:[br]“This uncooperative behavior from Fiat
0:29:53.170,0:30:00.470
is completely not understandable.” All[br]right? This is from Süddeutsche Zeitung
0:30:00.470,0:30:07.610
and it basically says that his people went[br]and took the report, which was already
0:30:07.610,0:30:14.929
very amicable. We know the quote „Mit[br]industriefreundlichen Grüßen“, right?
0:30:14.929,0:30:20.030
I don't know whether you read newspapers.[br]And they softened it down even more,
0:30:20.030,0:30:29.240
right? I was at the IMIS commission of the[br]European Union, which is the investigative
0:30:29.240,0:30:34.460
committee on Dieselgate and I just called[br]that report a joke and I'll repeat that
0:30:34.460,0:30:39.620
here. It's a joke and I wouldn't wan't to[br]have my name on that, so any scientist
0:30:39.620,0:30:45.090
that does, sorry, that's more kind of[br]shameful. Perhaps take it out of your CV,
0:30:45.090,0:30:50.850
so as to try and hide it. So, the funny[br]thing is, here it is said, also in this
0:30:50.850,0:30:55.620
press statement: “It cannot be that a[br]European law is formulated in a way that
0:30:55.620,0:31:00.500
manufacturers of underdeveloped engines[br]can hide behind engine protection
0:31:00.500,0:31:03.370
reasons.”[br]Audience: Only German ones!
0:31:03.370,0:31:08.880
D: Right. So, I'm sorry, this is German.[br]But the car he meant was obviously the
0:31:08.880,0:31:14.419
Fiat 500X, which was measured in this[br]report, but if you look at this engine
0:31:14.419,0:31:18.740
here, which is from his own report, it's[br]the Audi A3, the 3 liter, the one, which
0:31:18.740,0:31:25.240
has just been settled in the States, and[br]it is allowed to emit 180 mg, so in the
0:31:25.240,0:31:30.110
cold and in the warm it does this, but as[br]soon as you go below 10°C, remember,
0:31:30.110,0:31:35.600
there was this temperature window, right,[br]it does 663 mg and when you do it on the
0:31:35.600,0:31:41.190
road and you actually move the steering[br]wheel and it detects that, it does 868 mg.
0:31:41.190,0:31:45.650
So underdeveloped engines are made in[br]Germany and actually produced in Hungary,
0:31:45.650,0:31:52.690
because that's where the engine comes[br]from. I was in a cold retreat on an island
0:31:52.690,0:31:56.320
in the mediterranean sea. I run my own[br]company, so, you know, we can do great
0:31:56.320,0:32:00.910
things for our employers and somebody[br]brought this. And I don't read Bild
0:32:00.910,0:32:03.809
Zeitung. I have to read Bild Zeitung[br]because they are the only ones who have a
0:32:03.809,0:32:08.150
leak and get some information out of[br]Volkswagen and everybody copies them, it's
0:32:08.150,0:32:11.980
really weird, right? Bild am Sonntag[br]reports it first and then the Süddeutsche
0:32:11.980,0:32:20.260
Zeitung writes an editorial on it. And in[br]here I found a gem and the gem is the
0:32:20.260,0:32:25.790
Kraftfahrtbundesamt doesn't actually have[br]people who are able to analyze what Opel
0:32:25.790,0:32:32.190
gives them, so they have tasked Felix[br]Domke, the guy who is coming after me, and
0:32:32.190,0:32:38.410
asked him to actually verify whether Opel[br]has actually implemented a fix. So, you
0:32:38.410,0:32:42.560
know, I'm very happy they support the[br]hacker community, but I don't think that
0:32:42.560,0:32:45.850
is a very sustainable business model[br]for authorities, right?
0:32:45.850,0:32:47.700
laughter
0:32:47.700,0:32:54.840
applause
0:32:54.840,0:33:01.600
Okay, so, second to last point.[br]Braunschweig. Braunschweig. The
0:33:01.600,0:33:07.740
Braunschweig general attorney's office are[br]the ones that actually should be analyzing
0:33:07.740,0:33:14.960
the case of all the Volkswagen senior[br]management. They have now 28 people which
0:33:14.960,0:33:18.870
they are investigating against and that[br]includes Mr. Hans Dieter Pötsch, who is
0:33:18.870,0:33:25.640
the former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, and the[br]current head of Volkswagen, the Volkswagen
0:33:25.640,0:33:29.730
brand, which is Herbert Dress, who came[br]in from BMW. So that's great. That's
0:33:29.730,0:33:33.700
great. They're actually doing something.[br]The question is just, what are they doing?
0:33:33.700,0:33:38.330
Because we never get any feedback.[br]So, I don't know. I have no clue what
0:33:38.330,0:33:41.900
they're doing. You know, I'm in good[br]contact with nearly everybody, but they
0:33:41.900,0:33:46.350
actually only rang me once and the only[br]thing they asked was: “Do you have Felix
0:33:46.350,0:33:49.220
Domke's phone number?”[br]laughter
0:33:49.220,0:33:52.930
Perhaps Felix knows more. Perhaps, he's[br]able to tell us more about what they're
0:33:52.930,0:33:56.890
doing. The good thing is other people are[br]doing something. That's the court of Mayo,
0:33:56.890,0:34:00.960
which is in Ireland, very nice place. You[br]should go and visit it. And they have the
0:34:00.960,0:34:05.760
same legal mechanism as they have in the[br]States. So they have the capability to
0:34:05.760,0:34:11.930
order somebody to produce documents to[br]clarify the case, so in this case the
0:34:11.930,0:34:18.460
judge, Ms. Devins, has ordered Volkswagen[br]to produce documents. And they hate this.
0:34:18.460,0:34:24.210
They were furious. So what happened, is,[br]the next time they had a meeting, which
0:34:24.210,0:34:29.668
was in September of this year, the legal[br]representative told the court that this is
0:34:29.668,0:34:36.279
completely inappropriate and unfair. “I[br]did not bring anyone except for myself
0:34:36.279,0:34:40.480
because we think you do not have[br]jurisdiction in the case.” Now, it's an
0:34:40.480,0:34:45.349
Irish lady that has bought a Volkswagen[br]from an Irish dealer, but Volkswagen is
0:34:45.349,0:34:51.099
sure they don't have any legal beef in[br]this, right? So, I don't know what they're
0:34:51.099,0:34:58.189
thinking. And to actually add, you know,[br]to this, they walked out of the court. So
0:34:58.189,0:35:02.999
in protest, the representatives of[br]Volkswagen, their lawyers walked out of
0:35:02.999,0:35:09.619
the court. So, the thing is, the judge is[br]a very cool lady and she said, she would
0:35:09.619,0:35:17.029
continue “without Hamlet”, referring[br]to the play, and said, the Volkswagen
0:35:17.029,0:35:25.879
legal team had a spectacular walk-out.[br]That has not happened to a court before.
0:35:25.879,0:35:30.249
And the other thing is, so the Irish[br]people are trying to help the case a bit
0:35:30.249,0:35:34.739
and the States' people are trying the[br]same. They have a gentleman called
0:35:34.739,0:35:40.619
Mr. Liang who has worked long time for[br]Volkswagen. First in Germany and then in
0:35:40.619,0:35:45.679
the States. And he is now basically the[br]principal witness. They made a deal with
0:35:45.679,0:35:51.930
him and said, you know, “We will limit[br]the cost you will have or the time even in
0:35:51.930,0:35:57.779
jail that you have to do if you cooperate[br]with us”. And the thing boxed here in
0:35:57.779,0:36:01.690
red is: “Defendant shall cooperate fully[br]with the government, and any other law
0:36:01.690,0:36:05.549
enforcement agency, including but not[br]limited to the Staatsanwaltschaft
0:36:05.549,0:36:08.369
Braunschweig in Germany”, right?
0:36:08.369,0:36:11.579
applause
0:36:11.579,0:36:17.329
So, the Americans are actually bringing[br]the witness to Braunschweig and I have not
0:36:17.329,0:36:21.650
heard whether they even had a chat with[br]him. At least there's nothing publicly
0:36:21.650,0:36:30.970
known. All right. Bonus round for the last[br]5 minutes. Somebody on reddit actually
0:36:30.970,0:36:38.029
managed to get his car bought back. Cool.[br]Super. He received $21,000 for it. The
0:36:38.029,0:36:42.999
thing is, the buyback terms say, it[br]is okay if your car has damages...
0:36:42.999,0:36:45.090
laughter
0:36:45.090,0:36:49.880
... because they actually want to make[br]sure that somebody who has, you know, a
0:36:49.880,0:36:53.749
scratch or so, it doesn't get so[br]complicated, right? So the buyback process
0:36:53.749,0:36:57.710
actually just goes on, like, what car is[br]it, what did it cost initially and what
0:36:57.710,0:37:01.979
is the milage, and, you know, we know[br]about the milage now. So, this car
0:37:01.979,0:37:06.199
apparently had some damage and the guy[br]thought: “You know, it's damaged anyway.
0:37:06.199,0:37:08.409
All the front parts...
0:37:08.409,0:37:10.349
laughter
0:37:10.349,0:37:16.789
applause
0:37:16.789,0:37:20.940
All the front parts would be pretty good[br]use for my friend who has a Volkswagen and
0:37:20.940,0:37:25.279
wants to keep it. So, you know, I just[br]removed them.” Now the interesting thing
0:37:25.279,0:37:34.080
is, we have a company here, which has[br]betrayed millions of its customers, more
0:37:34.080,0:37:39.070
than half a million in the States and …[br]Oops, there's a slide missing. That's not
0:37:39.070,0:37:45.619
good. Sorry. I hope this wasn't deleted by[br]our friends who set up the video, which
0:37:45.619,0:37:52.880
was a difficult thing at the beginning.[br]Ohh no, it's deleted. That's not very
0:37:52.880,0:37:56.800
nice. Ohh, it's moved there. Okay, let's[br]use this one. It actually shouldn't be
0:37:56.800,0:38:08.890
there. It's the second to last slide.[br]Yay. So this is from a meeting of this
0:38:08.890,0:38:14.480
settlement class. I'm reading it.
0:38:14.480,0:38:16.670
laughter
0:38:16.670,0:38:26.360
applause
0:38:26.360,0:38:31.880
“At least one owner went so far as to[br]strip the car of almost every removable
0:38:31.880,0:38:34.780
part, including seats, doors,[br]a radio, and even the air bag.”
0:38:34.780,0:38:36.489
laughter
0:38:36.489,0:38:41.960
Now remember. That company has actually[br]betrayed half a million people in the
0:38:41.960,0:38:47.220
States, a few million worldwide. They've[br]made people pay way more for a car which
0:38:47.220,0:38:52.829
is dirty, because they believed it was[br]clean, and now there's five people who
0:38:52.829,0:39:01.400
stripped parts of their cars and they[br]complain to the judge. Okay, that's it.
0:39:01.400,0:39:08.619
applause
0:39:08.619,0:39:16.519
Takeaway points. I just wanted… The[br]takeaway points here: Everybody's
0:39:16.519,0:39:20.089
cheating. I only did one slide, but[br]please don't forget this, right? There
0:39:20.089,0:39:26.210
will be much more coming out from others.[br]Volkswagen promises, but their actions
0:39:26.210,0:39:30.780
are completely different, so please look[br]beyond the spin doctoring. Don't buy
0:39:30.780,0:39:34.119
the Volkswagen narrative. And the other[br]thing is, we don't have a functional
0:39:34.119,0:39:38.079
regulation in the EU. I hope, Julia Reda[br]and the others are able to fix it, but
0:39:38.079,0:39:41.220
this will be a really tough task.[br]Okay. Thank you very much.
0:39:41.220,0:39:45.280
applause
0:39:45.280,0:39:50.500
postroll music
0:39:50.500,0:40:10.000
subtitles created by c3subtitles.de[br]in the year 2017. Join, and help us!