How’s this for a one-two punch? Just as news is breaking that a Volkswagen engineer is being charged in connection to the Dieselgate scandal, we learn that he’s already plead guilty to multiple federal charges.
The U.S. Justice Department named James Liang in its probe of the German automaker for crimes related to the cheat device installed on thousands of diesel vehicles. Liang was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and violation of the clean air act, among other crimes.
Upon being charged, Liang reportedly entered a plea agreement for his cooperation in the investigation of others and greater details associated with Dieselgate. So what exactly was Liang’s involvement? Well, according to the Justice Department, as reported by CNBC, Liang developed software way back in 2006 to make the vehicles appear cleaner than they were. It doesn’t get much closer to the source than that. VW responded to the indictment by restating its cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice but made no comments about Liang. Who knows what information Liang will reveal to the feds, but chances are, it will be pretty juicy.
Read More: VW Reaches Dieselgate Settlement
Liang was part of a diesel development team in Germany when he was assignment the cheat device project. The engineer then moved to the U.S. in May of 2008 to help launch the new line of “clean diesels.”
As for the automaker, it’s knee-deep in a settlement that will cost it over $16 billion to fix or buy back 475,000 affected vehicles that were sold over a seven year period. VW admitted that 2.0-liter diesels were equipped with cheat devices, but a resolution about 3.0-liter diesels is still coming. These engines were found in VW, Audi, Porsche, and Skoda models.
The latest report says VW may not be able to provide a sufficient fix and will thus have to buy back all the cars. Ouch. The automaker is also on the hook for $2.7 billion in environmental mitigation and $2 billion for research on zero-emissions vehicles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.
Missing out on the self-driving future is a tough pill to swallow, especially as a car enthusiast. But that is what Tesla handed us on Wednesday, without a hint of mercy.
During its October 21, 2026 earnings call, Elon Musk told investors the Cybercab is meant mainly as a ride service. Further, nearly all of them will be owned and managed by Tesla.