If not exactly a stampede, there is certainly an orderly queue of suppliers beating a retreat to distance themselves from one of the greatest business scandals to rock Germany in decades.
The scale of the Volkswagen diesel emissions furore which first rocked the US and now risks heading across the Atlantic at a rapid rate of knots to European capitals, is breathtaking in scope and speed, while its seriousness has already seen CEO, Martin Winterkorn fall on his sword.
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Meanwhile, the automaker is already darkly hinting there will be others to follow in Winterkorn's, well-remunerated, steps as the country, never mind VW alone, looks to recover ground with its famous “Made in Germany” benchmark at stake – once a global byword phrase of quality and reliability.
This from VW's Wolfsburg HQ, where the machinations of daily committees set up to try and extinguish the economic flames is firefighting a situation, which saw almost one third wiped off the value of shares.
“The Executive Committee is expecting further personnel consequences in the next days,” intones Wolfsburg gravely. “The internal Group investigations are continuing at a high tempo. All participants in these proceedings that has resulted in unmeasurable harm for Volkswagen, will be subject to the full consequences.”
Well, there's no doubt there of VW's intentions, but it is Volkswagen's global network of suppliers which must be looking on aghast at events which have seemingly spiralled out of control, while national governments in Berlin, Paris and London among others, are jostling to be seen to be 'doing something.'
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By GlobalData“My first reaction – do I read right – is it really true” Scandinavian supplier association CEO, Fredrik Sidahl tells me from Gothenburg where he is preparing for next month's Annual Suppliers Forum and where Sweden's second city is sure to be buzzing with talk from component manufacturers concerning a situation surely none envisaged.
“My worry is what will this lead to for the complete vehicle industry regarding test [ing].
“I don't understand why we test vehicles differently – the parameters are set by the OEM – we can't influence that at all.”
The FKG (Fordonskomponentgruppen) chief added there had been “desperate attempts to introduce a diesel engine on the US… which is not a diesel market,” while he also highlighted the genuine differences between rig testing and real life road conditions with varying standards between countries.
“The tests, they are never corresponding to the real driving of the vehicle,” added Sidahl. “So many parameters, but they are comparable and repeatable and that is the reason we have a test code.
“[But] there is a difference between test codes in Europe, Sweden and the US; we are looking for standardisation.”
Brussels of course can't resist also being seen to be doing something, but in fairness for once, this is a situation that could benefit from forensic examination at supra-national level and the EC has tasked Member States to: “Carry out investigations at national level and report back.”
I've been trying all week with zero success to reach the European automotive supplier body, CLEPA, which clearly has a view on clean diesel emissions, but their silence is echoed by the reticence of suppliers to discuss in any detail, what is an obviously an emotive issue.
The diesel emissions scandal has developed a force of its own, sucking in huge numbers of players externally to those sat in Wolfsburg, with suppliers anxious to point out it is up to automakers how they use their technology. So far, Valeo, Faurecia, Bosch and Plastic Omnium have made it clear they have nothing to do with the situation, while other component producers are simply offering no comment.
The scale of the scandal currently swirling around Volkswagen can be gauged by the automaker noting discrepancies relate to the 11m vehicles with Type EA 189 engines and which showed “noticeable deviation” between bench test results and actual road use.
As I write this I'm hearing reports emanate from Berlin the Transport Minister has extended the scope of the firestorm to include light vans and while that can't be immediately verified – I've been ringing Berlin this morning and it's fair to say they're a tad busy with enquiries – it seems the contagion could well spread further.
Economics and politics are often entwined – witness the scenes of almost complete chaos across at Europe's external and internal borders regarding the migrant crisis – with the emissions scandal also seeing France unable to resist taking a shot at its powerful neighbour with the word fraud openly used by a senior French politician.
Such a Franco-German spat threatens to ignite yet another bitter war of automotive words between Paris and Berlin, which last year saw France's highest Court formally overturn a sales ban concerning Mercedes-Benz's A, B, CLA and SL models.
The contentious registration suspension in 2014 by France's Ecology Ministry in protest at Mercedes insistence on using r134a refrigerant instead of less-polluting r1234yf alternatives manufactured by Honeywell and Dupont, saw around 5,000 vehicles prevented from being delivered, but the Conseil d'Etat officially poured cold water on the ban.
However, the latest flare-up between the European Capitals has seen Energy Minister, Segolene Royal, under whose tutelage France's Transport Ministry lies, wade into the furore.
Royal – widely viewed as the third power in France behind President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls – noted her Ministry – following the revelations by the Federal American Agency for Environmental Protection (EPA) concerning polluting emissions – would start a thorough investigation.
“I have asked the EPA to provide all pertinent information so as to understand the nature of the fraud and ways to detect it,” said Royal.
“I have equally asked the Union Technique de L'Automobile (UTAC), du Motocycle and du Cycle, the technical service tasked by the French State on behalf of the European Commission, to carry out homologation tests, on the one had to be closer to the EPA and on the other hand, to suggest action to me.
No-one wants any negative association with this – it is on potentially such a colossal scale that even most crisis management teams would struggle to cope with the swiftly moving chain of events that seemingly started with a small testing operation in the US and which has mushroomed worldwide.
At some point however, the industry and suppliers will have to take a common view and establish what technology is where and what it's precisely doing.
Consumers are – rightly – angry at being duped – in their eyes at least – into buying expensive products that don't do what they say they do on the tin.
The ramifications for the industry are huge and the fallout, just days after the initial explosion, is still reverberating around the world.
From the FKG component chief again: “Of course [FKG] members are suppliers to Volkswagen,” says Sidahl. “VW – at least for a week ago [was] the biggest automotive company in the world – Germany is the biggest export country from Sweden.
“If people don't buy vehicles, caused by this situation, volume drops and volume is very necessary for profitability and survival.”
There's a certain understandable nervousness there. VW will surely survive, although its reputation has taken a battering the like of which is virtually unprecedented.
Now, how will the suppliers respond, either collectively or individually to a crisis almost nobody could have foreseen.
