SO the simple question is, WHO approved this... someone intentionally did this, and it wasn’t some little peon acting alone, this was clearly an orchestrated effort by multiple folks high up in the organization.
The unions did this. VW opened a big plant in Chattanooga TN. Unions were relentless in trying to get in on it. VW stood strong against them, put it to a vote of the employees, the unions lost. This is payback.