I see a lot of people posting things to the effect of "It's probably not a huge deal, just a firmware patch." That strikes me as unlikely. If that were the case

I see a lot of people posting things to the effect of "It's probably not a huge deal, just a firmware patch." That strikes me as unlikely. If that were the case, then why would VW take this risk in the first place? Clearly, there was some benefit to the car that made engaging in what was clearly illegal behavior seem like a financially sound option to who knows how many people within the company. If applying a firmware patch to fix this doesn't change the value of the car that much, why wouldn't they ship it was that firmware in the first place?