but almost the entire automotive industry engaging in similar tactics, but that was not nearly as widely reported.

This is straight up false. Yes most, if not all diesel engines were found to be out of regulation especially at idle. It's a bad regulation and needs to updated, but of course lobbists have put a stop to that.

The major difference was that VW group was using arrestor devices to skirt the testing even on the highway. It's why they paid the heftiest fine over all the other manufacturers. It was very purposeful, not saying the others are saints but there is a difference between neglecting to adhear and intentional deceit.

they were very hard to find and most peoples orders had not yet been delivered. It definitely hindered sales and was totally blown out of proportion.

Do you think that maybe, possibly, that it could be a variety of factors that led to id4 orders being cancelled? And also, if it was a commercial failure I can almost guarantee the model would have been killed off rather than being updated into a 4th year. Not being able to test drive a car I'm spending a significant chunk of cash on is a way bigger turn off than a YT video and some stupid articles.

Like seriously, if you didn't have the luxury of a very nice VW dealership, would you still have ended up with an id4? How do rekon availability and crappy dealerships didn't play a bigger role than Doug? Idk what to fucking tell you bro, people don't treat reviews as gospel, and if they do then they are most likely children and/or completely unable to afford the thing being reviewed.