Report Example: Volkswagen Group and the European Union Regulations

Descriptive Part

Volkswagen was established in 1937 to produce the Volkswagen car which was initially known as Porsche type sixty. The company designs and manufactures engines, commercial vehicles, and motorcycles. Furthermore, the group is ranked second by the level of production after Toyota ((Mock et al., 2014).

It was rated 7th by Fortune Global 500 in the list of the largest firms in 2016. However, in 2015, the company installed defeat devices on some of its cars and thus bypassing the pollution standards which were introduced in the same year. Furthermore, Volkswagen admitted that it had used sophisticated software to help trick regulators. The software was supposed to monitor the engine use and barometric pressure to decide whether the vehicle is being tested for emissions (Vega, 2017). This scandal exposed the failures of the European Union to establish policies that govern the quality of cars.

Analytic Part

The weak regulatory regime by the European Union about the accreditation of new vehicles allowed carmakers to move around and shop country to country and choose a nationwide regulator that will approve cars through testing. Culture is compelling, and sometimes it causes people to make decisions that are not of a company's best interest (Cattaneo, Meoli & Vismara, 2015). This can cause a business suffer from an outrageous disaster which may cause adverse effects. We can, for instance, consider what happened to the Volkswagen Company after its emission-test scandal which caused a lot of pollution to the environment. This resulted in the company facing much opposition from the European Union which consider human dignity as a core value for human being.

The Volkswagen produced a now-infamous diesel engine which was at their heart, but its technology failed the test of the required standards which should be met. The company did not meet the emission standards because the engine produced too many fumes in the air (Burguillo-Cuesta, Garcia-Ines & Romero-Jordan, 2011). The company instead of fixing the issue covered up the problem by fitting software in 11 million diesel-powered vehicles across the globe. The technology intended to beat the emission tests by use of phony data which made the car to look safer in a way it will not cause environmental pollution.

The European Union have always considered fundamental values such as respect for human dignity. It views human environment as very crucial for the life of human being. The union unites all the countries across Europe through these values and regulations which it has set. The Volkswagen Company went contrary with the rules and regulations of the European Union by inventing diesel the engine car which emitted a lot of fumes in the air. This caused pollution to the environment which is not suitable for human health (Ewing, 2015). These fumes also lead to the problem of the ozone layer which brings about weather effects. Moreover, the European Union has always fought for a better living of human being. It seeks to make sure that these values are respected and adhered to in the EU legislation. The make sure nobody is discriminated and instead everyone should be respected and tolerated. Therefore, the Volkswagen company did not consider these values and regulation and hence leading to the need to work and improve on their work to prevent emission of fumes in the environment (Buiga, 2012). The Volkswagen worked on this through clean diesel engine which prevents emissions in the environment through techniques such as regulating air-fuel ratios and exhaust flows, and in some inoculating a urea-based solution to condense NOx harmless. This is what is recommended by the European Union, and therefore the two seems to work hand in hand in creating a suitable environment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is crystal clear that there is a relationship between the Volkswagen and the European Union. This is evident from the values and regulations that are set by the European Union on human dignity. The Volkswagen Company, therefore, should follow what is required by the European Union. The union, thus, improves the peaceful coexistence of people in Europe as it is the guiding union in the continent and also across the world. The Volkswagen Company should, therefore, produce environmental friendly engines which do not cause much emission.

References

Buiga, A. (2012). Investigating the role of MQB platform in Volkswagen Group's strategy and automobile industry. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(9), 391-399.

Burguillo-Cuesta, M., Garcia-Ines, M. J., & Romero-Jordan, D. (2011). Does Dieselization favour a cleaner transport? Evidence from EU-15. Transport Reviews, 31(5), 571-589.

Cattaneo, M., Meoli, M., & Vismara, S. (2015). Financial regulation and IPOs: Evidence from the history of the Italian stock market. Journal of Corporate Finance, 31, 116-131.

Ewing, J. (2015). Volkswagen says 11 million cars worldwide are affected in diesel deception. The New York Times, 22.

Mock, P., Kuhlwein, J., Tietge, U., Franco, V., Bandivadekar, A., & German, J. (2014). The WLTP: How a new test procedure for cars will affect fuel consumption values in the EU. International Council on Clean Transportation, 9, 35-47.

Vega, G. (2017). Volkswagen: Business as Usual. Business and Professional Ethics Journal.