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The VW diesel scandal is now a Halloween costume

Can't figure out what costume to wear at your upcoming Halloween party? Love cars? Have a bunch of auto enthusiast friends who appreciate a super timely joke? Well, fear not. You're set for this season. HalloweenCostumes.com presents the VW Diesel Scandal costume, complete with toxic gas mask, fuel canister, and a cute little car blowing a plume of smoke. It's a full do-it-yourself job, and the site shows all of the necessary parts you'll need to make your very own scandalous outfit. And no, we aren't sure why the male model isn't wearing a shirt. "I'm a car guy and a Passat driver before it broke down, so I never wanted to make light of the VW scandal. I actually really like the brand," HalloweenCostumes.com's Marlon Heimerl tells Autoblog. "But I'm also an environmentalist and marketing manager for a Halloween company. So fair is fair, just doing our job." "The biggest news stories and scandals in particular always find their way to the top of the list for the topical costumes of the year," HC's vice president of marketing, Troy Eaves, writes to Autoblog. "Sure, car scandals happen all the time, but on a much smaller scale both in terms of the total number of cars effected, and the actual parts in question are usually replaceable through a recall. This one was much larger scale, affected millions of consumers, and the damage can't really be undone. This rings 'big costume' for the Halloween industry." Credit where credit is due, this is pretty funny. Now, bring on the Sexy VW Diesel Scandal treatment.

2022 Genesis GV70, raging at VW ID.4 tech and thoughts on a new Lexus LFA | Autoblog Podcast #696

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. This week, they talk about driving the Genesis GV70, VW ID.4 and VW Taos. They talk about ways Chevy could "fix" the Camaro. James ranked all the James Bond films based solely on their starring cars. Next, they reach in the mailbag and discuss the question, "Do you think Lexus will make a successor to the LFA and, if so, what do you guys think it would be like?" After ruminating on that query, they dip into the mailbag a second time to recommend a sporty crossover to a listener in this week's Spend My Money segment. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #696 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving: 2022 Genesis GV70 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 2022 Volkswagen Taos How we'd fix the Chevy Camaro All 24 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars Mailbag: What would a Lexus LFA successor look like? Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: Lexus LFA | TRANSLOGIC

VW must explain diesel fix by Nov. 20 in California

The state of California has long been ahead of the game when it comes to enacting laws limiting greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles in the US. Now, it looks like the Golden State is again leading the pack as it tries to get to the bottom of the Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal that has shaken up much of the automotive industry. In fact, while VW has come out and said vehicle recalls wouldn't likely start happening until at least January, the state is giving VW until Nov. 20 to outline how it will repair its diesel-powered vehicles to comply with emissions mandates, Reuters says, citing a spokesman with the California Air Resources Board. That deadline coincides with the 45-day mark after VW received its Sept. 18 compliance letter about the diesel issue. In fact, California regulators may well start testing non-VW diesel vehicles to see if any other automaker installed software that would cause diesel emissions to be underestimated. Other German automakers such as BMW have boosted their diesel-vehicle production in recent years in an effort to meet tightening greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel-economy standards. VW has estimated that as many as 11 million light-duty diesel vehicles may include cheating software. Given that California is the largest US auto market, many of those vehicles are tooling around the state. In all, Volkswagen has earmarked $7.3 billion to address the scandal's issues, while former CEO Martin Winterkorn has stepped down and has been replaced by Matthias Muller. Related Video: