As most of you know, I’m a caroholic and love talking about cars – especially upcoming trends.  Up until a few days ago, it was not notable to the general public that a majority of the cars Volkswagen has sold in the United States are of the diesel variety. Diesel vehicles currently make up less than 1 percent of new car sales in the US compared to 50% in Europe. Volkswagen’s plan to win American consumers back to diesel hinged on erasing memories of unreliable, polluting cars and selling environmentally friendly vehicles that don’t sacrifice speed or torque.

As a result, I was just as surprised as others when the EPA announced last Friday that it would be compelling Volkswagen to recall nearly 500,000 vehicles in the United States because they contained software that allowed them to evade emissions standards.  As The New York Times pointed out, car owners now reconcile what they thought they had purchased versus what they had – mainly that the cars emit from 10 to 40 times more pollutants than advertised.  Cars like the Jetta and Passat TDI’s were heavily over advertized as “clean” whereas comparative vehicles from BMW, like the X5-D were well within emissions standards. People are legitimately outraged. I have spent years advocating for the expansion of clean diesel products in the US and if a corporation like VW literally is cooking the books, what are we to do?

Back in 2009 when new emissions standards were introduced, Volkswagen was the first major carmaker to sell cars that met the new standards.  Now, Volkswagen could face fines of up to $18 billion or $37,500 for each car that did not comply with the legal standards.  Volkswagen shares lost almost 25% of their value (a $17.6 billion loss) on Monday after the scandal. If you hold VW stock, dump it now. Times are going to get tough.