Personally I'm a bit skeptical that my next vehicle will be VW. I'm sure I'll give them a test but they won't be as favored to me as they could be simply because there's doubt of honesty in my mind now. Have they pulled some scam on my car that's yet to be caught? Is everything I've been promised on the brochure guaranteed or did they skirt some other regulation or standard?
This will affect their status perhaps as the world's #1 automaker, but they'll be around for a long time.
I'd buy another VW because the one I have has done a good job of getting the little things right in ways other cars I've owned didn't.
So far, it would seem people are forgiving them, but that may or may not change depending on findings regarding other cheaters, if any, but, in the least, this has the potential to change consumer preference in fuels, given one is not as undirty as originally claimed.