Currently reading: The lasting impact of the Dieselgate scandal

September 2025 marks a decade since Dieselgate broke – and its impact continues to ripple through the industry

“I was sitting on a plane on a Friday night, waiting to take off at Heathrow ahead of a weekend away, and my mum texted me: ‘Does this thing happening in America affect you?’ To be honest, I was in the dark like everyone else. I didn’t really think about it on the flight. Then over the weekend, things developed quite quickly.”

Ex-Volkswagen UK boss Alex Smith, now chairman of dealer group Lookers, is recalling the very start of a scandal that began to break a decade ago next month: Dieselgate. The fines, firings and fixes are well documented, but what impact has it left on VW, the wider car industry and the black pump?

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