In 2016, automobile manufacturer Volkswagen was charged in the United States for having installed software that engaged antipollution technology in diesel cars not at all times as regulations required, but only when undergoing emission tests. The firm apparently installed these so-called “defeat devices” out of an inability to meet U.S. clean-air standards legally. As a result, different Volkswagen diesel cars emitted between 9 and 38 times the legal limits of nitrogen oxide. The decision to do so was made more than a decade earlier, and was first discovered by U.S. regulators in 2014. Volkswagen was slow to acknowledge the problem publicly, and when they did so stated that responsibility was isolated to a small group of engineers. However, in 2016, the lawsuits brought forward by several states charged that higher-level executives early on had been informed about the installation of the devices. The firm eventually admitted to having installed disabling devices on at least 11 million cars globally, with 8.5 million in Europe and a half million in the United States. In a settlement with U.S. authorities, Volkswagen agreed to pay $4.3 billion in U.S. civil and criminal fines. Six of the firm’s executives were indicted. In addition, Volkswagen set aside approximately $18 billion to address claims from vehicle owners, environmental regulators, U.S. states and dealers. Use the concepts developed in Chapter 9 to analyze the defeat device issue at Volkswagen.