, Columnist
VW Customers Don't Give a Monkey's About Diesel Cheating
Outrage over animal testing is unlikely to materially damage sales.
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A bizarre incident involving the testing of diesel exhaust fumes on a group of cartoon-watching monkeys, and possibly humans too, has catapulted the Volkswagen AG emissions scandal back onto newspaper front pages. But public outrage, though warranted, may well ring hollow this time.
When Volkswagen admitted rigging about 11 million vehicle engines in 2015, I assumed the German carmaker would pay dearly, not only in terms of fines, repair costs and compensation, but also in terms of damage to its brand and thus lost sales. I was wrong.