VW Disguised Cheating With Secret Code

2014 Volkswagen Touareg TDI badge (Credit: Volkswagen )

Even though Volkswagen has finally come up with a solution of sorts to the whole Dieselgate scandal, we’re still getting juicy details about how the cheat went down inside the company. One of the most interesting details is like something out of an old spy movie.

When the Germans are sneaky, they’re very, very sneaky.

According to multiple reports, the company used secret codes when referring to the emissions cheating devices. That way, anyone like a government investigator who looked through documents would just see “acoustic software” and think they were reading about the stereo.

Tricky, VW.

This method also means figuring out who actually knew about the cheat devices is proving to be damn near impossible. It’s like you get in the middle of the thing and realize there’s really no trusting anyone. Some people will probably get away without any consequences, and everyone will be left wondering what the long-term damage to VW as a company will be.

Another interesting fact, as reported by German newspaper Handelsblatt: Audi found a way to cheat emissions with software way back in 1999. The automaker, which hasn’t really taken the beating VW has, actually created defeat devices long ago. For whatever reasons, the software was never actually used by Audi, but it shows the line of thought going on inside the Volkswagen Group.

Just how deep does the cheating run within Volkswagen? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.