The diesel-emissions scandal is not a failure on the part of individual companies, but rather the result of collusion among German carmakers that lasted for years, an investigation finds. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and Porsche coordinated their activities in more than a thousand meetings, according to company records and interviews. The five are, Der Spiegel concludes, "something like a 'German Cars Inc.' -- or a cartel."
From Der Spiegel:
The development experts at the German auto companies met "regularly several times a year." They met in Stuttgart, Munich, Ingolstadt and Wolfsburg, and at the major auto shows in Geneva, Frankfurt and Paris. There is "the suspicion," as Volkswagen stated in its brief, also speaking on behalf of subsidiaries Audi and Porsche, that there was "behavior in violation of cartel law."
When a car company itself voices the "suspicion" that it may have violated laws, the evidence must be very clear. And it is.
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