The court action ACCC has brought against Volkswagen might not succeed because Australia’s emissions standards are not as strict as those in the US and Europe.
Diesels typically have good fuel economy, but hot on the heels of the Volkswagen affair, Australia is set to tighten the rules for diesel car emissions - which will put a dent in engine performance.
An obsession with metrics has led to a business culture in many industries that is more concerned with meeting targets than the wider good the measure was intended to represent.
Computers control much of an engine’s performance these days. And it’s surprisingly easy to tweak the software to bypass emissions controls, as done by Volkswagen.
Volkswagen’s command and control approach has not helped its global response to the emissions scandal, with Australian customers left waiting for more than two weeks.
Governments are just as much to blame when it comes to letting car manufacturers get away with dodging regulation requirements, as the companies themselves.