VW is going to punch itself in the B-lls. Kinda funny really

I have to admit that I have been anticipating the announcement of who VW was going to toss under the buss over the diesel pollution debacle. We all knew that it was not going to be upper management.

Seems that they have narrowed the entire scam down to two engineers who will be sacked forthright!

The two men, Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi ’s chief engineer, and Wolfgang Hatz, developer of Porsche’s Formula One and Le Mans racing engines, were among the engineers suspended in the investigation... Messrs. Hackenberg and Hatz, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, are viewed as two of the best and brightest engineers in German industry. “It will be difficult for Volkswagen to replace them,” he said.

Who can't appreciate the irony of firing the firemen when the building is on fire? This whole thing has to be one of the most entertaining dramas going on.

I say those guys should be hired immediately and put to work on designing a new, "un-cheatable" test to replace the one that they so cleverly made the TDI pass.

Yawn. Really? This is soooo last week.

Kind of like amputating your head because you shot yourself in the foot...

As an engineer, I have some degree of sympathy for them. However, the Chief Engineer at Audi, is really a managerial position. He definitely wasn't down in some dyno cell writing cheaty engine code. He was telling someone else it was OK to do it.

Yea, chief engineer is 3-4 levels of management up. These are not some low level hacks who did something.

Definitely one of the most entertaining E36 M3shows in the news, every time I read another discovery or headline I automatically start hearing Yackity Sax.

I heard it was gonna be Ima Skapengoaten and Noah Twasentmee that were taking the fall for this mess.

Seems to me that in the world of programming, your criminal record is often the highlight of your resume. Lacking one shows a stunted ability to think outside the box.

And yes I know they are managers, but it is a rarefied environment that makes up this level of engineering management. The joke is that they will have to be replaced with whoever was second best when they were hired. These two, having already been qualified by VW as "The best", will be on the market for the competition to hire.

In reply to NOHOME:

Yeah, I think these two sacrificial offerings will fare better than VW itself in the near future.

NOHOME wrote: I have to admit that I have been anticipating the announcement of who VW was going to toss under the buss over the diesel pollution debacle. We all knew that it was not going to be upper management. Seems that they have narrowed the entire scam down to two engineers who will be sacked forthright!

The two men, Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi ’s chief engineer, and Wolfgang Hatz, developer of Porsche’s Formula One and Le Mans racing engines, were among the engineers suspended in the investigation... Messrs. Hackenberg and Hatz, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, are viewed as two of the best and brightest engineers in German industry. “It will be difficult for Volkswagen to replace them,” he said.

Who can't appreciate the irony of firing the firemen when the building is on fire? This whole thing has to be one of the most entertaining dramas going on.

I'm sure they're already being recruited by the Chinese automotive industry -- probably at an increase in pay.

In reply to ebonyandivory:

You've been listening to too much Car Talk.

BoostedBrandon wrote: In reply to ebonyandivory: You've been listening to too much Car Talk.

Actually, I think he's been listening to just the right amount of Car Talk.

Honestly, without looking (which I'll do as soon as I type this) I don't know what Car Talk is.

Was I funny or BTDT?

Edit: Ok, I looked. Car Talk is on NPR? In that case, I doubt I'll ever listen to it.

NOHOME wrote: Seems to me that in the world of programming, your criminal record is often the highlight of your resume. Lacking one shows a stunted ability to think outside the box.

This is one of my best buddies from college to a t (comp sci major). I won't disclose some of his exploits on a public forum like this, but suffice to say his capability for "out of the box thinking" is ample. He landed a VERY well compensated position in computer security immediately after graduation.

ebonyandivory wrote: Honestly, without looking (which I'll do as soon as I type this) I don't know what Car Talk is. Was I funny or BTDT? Edit: Ok, I looked. Car Talk is on NPR? In that case, I doubt I'll ever listen to it.

You aren't missing much. From reading transcripts, it's a couple guys joking around and they tend to be wildly incorrect about technical matters.

BoostedBrandon wrote: In reply to ebonyandivory: You've been listening to too much Car Talk.

LOL Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

http://www.cartalk.com/content/staff-credits

Car Talk is a great comedy radio show, some of you guys should listen to an episode to judge how much you do or don't like it.

Car Talk is over;They play re-runs because the two hosts retired. One died last year.

On another note, it seems like society wants and sometimes needs the company to "punch themselves in the balls" to feel like they have done enough to correct any management/decision making problem(s) before going back.

I'm still waiting for VW to be deep enough that they offer a $999 down, $99/mo lease on a Golf.

Having sat through any number of engineering meetings wherein such things are decided as the product is developed and moved forward (as an admin guy, not an engineer), there was somebody who kept interrupting and saying "you can't do that, it doesn't meet the regulation. If you want it to pass, you have to make this change, that change, and that change."

Wherein someone higher up will say, "yes, but if we do that, the development cost will be 1.8x of what the budget was - we'll lose money on every car sold."

If I had to say, Hatz worked for Hackenberg, was in said meeting, and, being the racing guy who knows how to get to the very edge of every reg, said "I know how we can get around this..."

Not knowing their management structure, can't say for sure, but, it seems like the right two guys got pegged.

And that quote above says "suspended". They've been "properly demoted" or moved, and are probably still the go-to guys for all the same things they were.

Two things: they were "suspended" not let go. So they will likely be "unemployed" until this blows over. Then Right back at it. If they are let go, can we day sayonara to audis lemans wins? I want them dead. Lol.

Furious_E wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Seems to me that in the world of programming, your criminal record is often the highlight of your resume. Lacking one shows a stunted ability to think outside the box.

This is one of my best buddies from college to a t (comp sci major). I won't disclose some of his exploits on a public forum like this, but suffice to say his capability for "out of the box thinking" is ample. He landed a VERY well compensated position in computer security immediately after graduation.

So have some of the better hackers

Trackmouse wrote: Two things: they were "suspended" not let go. So they will likely be "unemployed" until this blows over. Then Right back at it. If they are let go, can we day sayonara to audis lemans wins? I want them dead. Lol.

And they probably know too much to be booted

spitfirebill wrote: And they probably know too much to be booted

But not enough to have a mysterious car accident!

spitfirebill wrote:

Trackmouse wrote: Two things: they were "suspended" not let go. So they will likely be "unemployed" until this blows over. Then Right back at it. If they are let go, can we day sayonara to audis lemans wins? I want them dead. Lol.

And they probably know too much to be booted

Nobody knows too much to be booted. This isn't some kind of national security issue- it's making cars.

The question I have- since these two guys are the ones who probably directed people to make the cheat- are they the ones who are legally liable?

I don't consider these guys clever at all- the clever ones are the ones who can legally meet the rules at a price point that people can afford.

I see these guys as lazy. And incompetent. Instead of solving a problem, they cheat.

I would not want to work for them, nor would I want them in my company.

It would be interesting to see if someone in VW tried to turn them in (most companies have anonymous numbers to call in stuff like this), and if that was covered up. If I found out about something like this, I would turn them in immediately.