Defeat Device, Consumer Fraud and Intentional Environmental Harm in the Dieselgate Case
Purpose:
Software and products manipulation have become an inevitable fact in 21st century and one can hardly avoid it. Intentional obsolescence of products or the performance that is contrary to what was promised in a sale are no secret and companies have whole development departments dealing with that, as witnessed in the Dieselgate case. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and present the Dieselgate case, which involves Volkswagen, and its consequences, caused by software manipulation, in particular from the viewpoint of consumer misconduct and environmental threats.
Methods:
Using the descriptive analysis of primary and secondary sources and the comparative analysis, the authors present the example of Dieselgate and the behaviour of Volkswagen from the point of view of consumer fraud, point out forms of consumer damage, and, from the point of view of critical green criminology, point out the misuse of environment or environment-friendly marketing to achieve profit, to the detriment of environment.
Findings:
Disclosure that Volkswagen was equipping its diesel vehicles with forbidden defeat devices for six years, caught everyone by surprise. Almost 11 million cars worldwide contain prohibited device, which causes the cars to emit up to 40 times more emissions in real conditions. Nitric oxide, the main product of diesel cars is very dangerous pollutant that can cause many health problems and it also has huge impact on the environment. The findings of the analysis showed that it was deliberate misleading of consumers, violation of environmental legislation and the use of the sale of an ‘environment-friendly car’ as a strategy for profit.
Originality:
The originality of the article is reflected in the fact that it analyses Dieselgate case from the criminal justice and security perspective, warns about the threats to the safety and health of individuals and attempts to propose ways of preventing those threats.
UDC: 343.3/.7:504
Keywords: Dieselgate, Volkswagen, consumer fraud, environmental harm