ABSTRACT
In September 2015, the 'Dieselgate' scandal surprised the world. It transpired that Volkswagen (VW), a company respected for its technological prowess and quality cars, had installed software—a so-called 'defeat device'—in its turbocharged diesel engine passenger cars. This chapter demonstrates how a combination of characteristics from persons, the organisation and its environment created the Dieselgate scandal. In 1989, VW developed the Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) engine, which solved most of these problems. The chapter looks at the affair from a criminological viewpoint. It analyzes the case from three different perspectives: the behaviour of the CEO's who headed VW since the 1990s; company characteristics and state-corporate crime. The chapter describes explanations for the Dieselgate scandal. VW's own assessment of the causes of the affair was that these were the misconduct and shortcomings of individual employees; weaknesses in some processes and a mindset in some areas of the company that tolerated breaches of rules.
