[JoBrad]

I agree. The US legal system has historically been way more lenient on financial companies than automobile companies. In the case of Enron, they had a lot of financial incentive for their actions, with only the prospect of a few fines as the expected downside. I don't see that being the case for GM, Toyota, etc.

[tomtang0514]

Because they're slightly different cases considering how they begin. The GM and Toyota cases are that they screwed up. They failed to design a safe system. Meanwhile this VW case and those financial cases are that they designed the system intentionally to screw up other people. It's like accidental homicide vs murder.