Things move fast in the corporate world. Since we published our VW Emissions Scandal and 11 other times big companies have lied to us article (here) last week, oil giant BP has agreed to pay $20bn (£13.2bn) to settle claims in the USA following the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The spill took 87 days to cap, and affected five US states, including, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The end result crippled ecosystems and local economies.
Meanwhile VW, following the emissions scandal in September, are preparing to recall almost 500,000 cars in the US alone from January 2016, and have set aside €6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs. Rather than shouldering the costs themselves, VW which made $8.1 BILLION in profit last year is preparing to cut costs and model development according to new VW boss Matthias Müller.
Speaking at the company’s Wolfsburg HQ, Müller told workers “We will review all planned investments, and what isn’t absolutely vital will be cancelled or delayed. I will be completely clear: this won’t be painless.” Certainly not for the workers, all of them blameless, that’s for sure. Well done VW, you totally stink. This is just another example of how huge money making giants, and their greedy shareholders, are happy to share the pain but not the profits.
Now don’t get us started on FIFA…