Volkswagen AG 's (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) recent emissions scandal is most likely to have far-reaching consequences. Rigging pollution results will not only cost the automaker dearly in terms of legal fines, investor and customer backlash, class action suits, possible criminal investigation, and loss of future sales, but the ill-effects of this scandal could spill over to other automakers, particularly Germans who make cars that run on diesel, and have a broader impact on the automotive industry. In fact, given how this scandal has everybody raising their eyebrows at the previously trusted and respected German engineering, the blow to the country's largest automotive company could, in turn, hurt the country's economic growth.