So the software used was written in 1999 at Audi, designed to be "capable of turning off certain engine functions", for what purpose? Cheating purposes? Testing

So the software used was written in 1999 at Audi, designed to be "capable of turning off certain engine functions", for what purpose? Cheating purposes? Testing purposes? Does not say. I personally find that not really informative, but ok. Regarding VW: Everyone living at Germany the last years and following the news heard that same mantra over and over again... "to be the most successful car maker", every end of the year the story was how far behind they were compared to Toyota or in other words: how much closer they came. Problem is that they were absolutely obsessed with beating their competitors, especially Toyota, at the same time VW relied heavily on the earnings of their premium brands Audi and Porsche, the margins of VW itself were always somewhat thin, especially compared to Toyota. Too many models, too much variation, they are definitely pursuing now to shift to less models and (even) more modular platforms, but at the same time closing down plants in Germany and shifting to foreign countries will likely not happen. The state of Lower Saxony holds ~20% of the company, VW has repeatedly pledged to "stay a german company" and doesn't want to cut jobs in their home country. Under those circumstances, competing with Toyota might just have not been possible. VW heavily made its bet on the Diesel Engine, and maybe that was wrong, as they had to cheat to make that bet pay off. VW needs a change in culture, desperately, that is unlikely to happen though. Interesting times to come, I wouldn't bet on VW though... but then again, what somewhat rational thinking person would, I know.