I think we have much bigger issues with coal plants, iron extraction from the ore, making concrete, commercial trucks with worse emission equipment requirements, or even airplanes still using leaded gasoline, etc.
Edit: Now I'm being downvoted, we live a society where companies do so devious acts that people sound crazy when they point them out. Yes, this sounds too heinous to be true, but the sad fact is that it is true, watch the documentary for full story: https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1FI0VR
You are applying "psychopath" label in a very liberal way. They cheated. They tried to hide it. It's a fact. It still doesn't make them psychopaths.
Please look for universal solutions.
I completely agree with you in this, I was writing the same thing. That's why I wrote that the total amount of time taken away from people must be estimated. If it turns out to be less than 100 lives, I agree with you as in that case the cost savings are justifying switching to newer cars, even if they are not hybrids. The problem here is that we're talking about a much higher number of man years taken away.
And yet they bought monkeys to prove their point, rather than breathing it in themselves.
You're right about the psychopath thing, though. They could simply be cold and cynical.