It was a few researchers from West Virginia who brought down the might of the German automotive industry, exposing VW’s Dieselgate cheats. Do you think Germany is pleased about that?
Displeased might not be the right word, but the very healthy sense of irony in Germany came out strong as the industrial nation had to reckon with podunk yahoo America getting German tech on the global shitlist. Let us not forget that VW is Germany’s biggest automaker, and making autos is Germany’s most proud export business.
This video comes from the publicly-funded ZDF TV network. It ran a little while ago, but was as dug up recently by the New York Times. You have to click the link to watch it, and you can turn on some loose English translations in the captions.
The video doesn’t do anything but contextualize the American exposure of dieselgate with the rest of the American automotive landscape. It points out that our most popular vehicle is a full-size truck, and when it comes to diesels, we’re more likely to be rolling coal than anything else.
“American cars: not manipulated. For the good of the environment,” the joke ad concludes.
Germany should watch out about this kind of tone. The last time they were such sore losers, we sent troops into Normandy.
Contact the author at raphael@jalopnik.com.