To Catch a Cheat

By the time Lance Armstrong won his unprecedented seventh consecutive Tour de France championship in 2005, he was already a global icon for surviving a near-death brush with cancer and then establishing himself as the greatest cyclist of his generation. The tables quickly turned, however, when in 2013 he admitted to long-standing doping allegations that saw him stripped of his accomplishments and relegated to being a pariah in the sports world until recent efforts to rehabilitate his reputation.

In many ways, Armstrong’s career arc mirrors Volkswagen’s legal and public relations turmoil in the wake of the so-called ‘Dieselgate’ scandal that broke in September 2015, when following a period of scrutiny from regulators, the automaker admitted to cheating on tailpipe emissions tests that affected nearly 11 million vehicles around the world. The degree of deception was egregious in that Volkswagen employed specific ‘defeat devices’ that limited emissions during official tests but permitted higher emissions outside of the lab; the result was that some vehicles emitted up to 40 times more pollution than allowed by regulations. In addition to the public health toll, the scandal cost the company more than $30 billion for recalls, fines, and other expenses, and initiated an existential crisis for diesel vehicles worldwide. read more »

600,000 Ford Fiesta, Focus owners await extended warranty notice for $1K clutch repair

Ford Motor Co. says it will send notification of a new extended warranty on clutch repairs and cost reimbursement after Labor Day to more than a half million owners of the Fiesta and Focus, about three weeks after making a public announcement.

Meanwhile, customers from around the country have contacted the Free Press to say they're getting conflicting information from dealers who deny warranty coverage and reimbursement. Customers have mailed invoices to the Detroit Free Press reflecting recent charges for clutch repair and transmission control module repair despite the company's highly publicized announcement Aug. 14. read more »

BMW 1 Series recalled for faulty wiring, fire risk

Thousands of BMW 1 Series owners will find a recall letter in their mailboxes in the near future. The German luxury car maker will recall 41,981 1 Series models for bad wiring that may cause a fire. read more »

U.S. charges Levandowski with stealing Alphabet trade secrets

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday filed criminal charges against Anthony Levandowski, accusing the former high-ranking Alphabet Inc engineer of stealing the company’s self-driving car technology before joining rival Uber Technologies Inc. read more »