Automotive News: Ford Being Sued Over Simple Part, Dieselgate Insider, VW recalls 281K Cars
Ford is Being Sued Over One of the Simplest Parts on a Car
Ford Owners allege their lug nuts are defective.
Law firm Hagens Berman filed the complaint Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of the affected owners. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and involves hundreds of Ford owners alleging their vehicles have defective lug nuts. The suit claims millions of Ford Fusion, Escape, Flex, Focus, F-150, and F-350 vehicles have lug nuts that can swell and delaminate, making it difficult to remove the wheels.
“At best this defect leads to consumers paying more than $30 per wheel at a repair shop just to get their tire off, and then have to buy new lug nuts,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. “At worst, Ford owners could quickly end up in an emergency situation on a busy roadway, stranded with a flat tire and no way to change it.” read more »
The Dieselgate Insider
A former Audi engineer has implicated two former executives in the carmaker’s emissions scandal. But it's not yet enough for prosecutors to move against the VW subsidiary's top leadership.
Bit by bit, German prosecutors are digging deeper into the diesel emissions scandal that has turned the country’s car industry up-side down. A former engineer at Audi, the luxury carmaker owned by Volkswagen, has revealed new details of the fraud committed by VW and its subsidiaries.
Giovanni Pamio, a manager three levels below the board, was arrested in Germany last month for his involvement in the diesel scam that affected 11 million cars globally, including VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles. His questioning to date has shed more light on who knew of the diesel fraud, which was publicly revealed in 2015 but dates back as far as 2006, and has cost VW €21.6 billion ($26 billion) in penalties and engine refits so far.
Mr. Pamio, in pre-trial arrest in Munich and wanted by the US Department of Justice, led a team of engineers who designed control systems to meet emissions standards for diesel cars in the US from 2006 to November 2015. According to Mr. Pamio’s questioning, of which Handelsblatt obtained information, one engineer warned several high-level managers of problems with diesel engines at the end of 2006. Mr. Pamio himself briefed a number of Audi executives on Oct. 16, 2007 that the so-called “Clean Diesel” VW Touareg, an SUV car, did not satisfy US environmental regulations, spewing more toxic nitrogen oxide gases than allowed.
Volkswagen recalls 281K cars because engines can stall
The recall covers the CC from the 2009 through 2016 model years
Volkswagen is recalling almost 281,000 CC and Passat sedans and wagons in the U.S. because the fuel pumps can fail and cause the cars to suddenly stall.
The recall covers the CC from the 2009 through 2016 model years, as well as the Passat sedan and wagon from 2006 through 2010. All have four-cylinder gasoline engines.
VW says in government documents that the fuel pump control computer can lose electrical power. That can stop gas from flowing and cause the engine to stop. That problem also can make the fuel pump continue running after the car is shut off.
