The recent Volkswagen scandal had me wondering about past auto manufacturer scandals and how their prices (individual or sector wide) were affected. Here's a piece by ProPublica which brought back memories. Especially the Pinto issue, which affected me as I learned to drive stick in a Pinto in the 1970s. Boy, the mind reels!
The recent revelation that Volkswagen used software to make its diesel engines appear to be polluting less than they are is just one of a long list of scandals that have plagued the auto industry. Here is a selection of some of the best reporting on the subject.
Pinto Madness
Mother Jones, 1977
The Ford Pinto was rushed into production in the early 1970s despite the company knowing that the gas tank could explode in a rear-end collision. Ford decided to do nothing about it because a cost-benefit analysis showed that it was cheaper to pay legal costs for an expected number of future victims than to fix the cars.
