In case you missed it, Volkswagen was caught out on their misrepresentation of pollution figures for their diesel vehicles. Basically, they made sure that the emissions test that regulatory bodies and mechanics conduct on a regular basis are misrepresentative of the emissions released during driving.

When this scandal first hit the news stands, people were understandably upset that their “clean” vehicles were actually very bad for the environment. Many people chose to boycott Volkswagen as a result, and this had a knock on effect on the sales of Volkswagen vehicles. Figures show that in the month following the break of the news, sales of Volkswagen vehicles dropped by a massive 20%.

This drop in sales as well as the costs of recalling vehicles and conducting repairs is likely to have a big affect on the company’s profitability for some time to come.