Harley Davidson was caught doing the same emissions scam and no one seems to care. Granted there's less vehicles from them compared to the 11 million Volks but still.
This is very different from purposefully hiding your emissions levels from testers.
Whether that difference is material when meting out punishment is up to judgement. But calling it "no different" seems pretty wrong.
EDIT: Not exactly that... from another user "They admit that the modified bikes bypass emissions requirements, whereas the unmodified VWs didn't meet the requirements and had to cheat to pass inspection."
What, VW bribed the comission? FBI should arrest them too..
Harley also got into the business of selling folks new exhaust/air intake and race tuners at the dealership so folks could 'stage 1' their bikes and remap their EFI units. This results in failing emissions (usually). They settled, restricted what they sell post-sale and are tightening down on what voids factory warranties moving forward.
http://www.porscheengineering.com/peg/en/services/ourreferen...
Somebody created emission requirements for motorcycles?
I dropped 20 lbs off a 330lb bike (and added about 5hp) by replacing the heavy dual exhaust with a single Ti/carbon pipe, and reprogramming the ECU. I'm sure the manufacturer would have loved to give me a 310lb bike that made more power if they could. (and before you ask, no it's not loud, I hate loud pipes)
Incidentally, the exhaust/ECU upgrade was done by the local shop when the bike was purchased new. Basically the same as what H-D was doing.
Anyway, what H-D got popped for is arguably less egregious than what VW was doing. They admit that the modified bikes bypass emissions requirements, whereas the unmodified VWs didn't meet the requirements and had to cheat to pass inspection.