Jim Armitage: VW is damaging its case by frustrating regulators

The self-inflicted car crash engulfing Volkswagen is so vast that any company would struggle to survive it.

For years, it duped emissions testers on millions of cars. It lied to the authorities, it lied to its customers and lied to governments around the world.

Yet, to VW’s credit, despite the quite shocking way it has behaved, the public has largely shrugged the scandal off.

Sure, sales fell 5% in October, but that’s hardly a disaster. What would Gerald Ratner have given for a 5% slump in sales of his “crap” jewellery?

The fact is, despite the emissions con, consumers still trust the world’s biggest carmaker enough to part with tens of thousands of euros, dollars and pounds for its products.

But while its customers may be forgiving souls, its regulators on both sides of the Atlantic may prove to be less charitable.

For VW’s correct early strategy of saying “sorry” to anyone who’d listen has been creepingly replaced by a dangerous tetchiness towards its watchdogs.

Now we get public spats with US regulators over niggly details of the allegations, a refusal to disclose the information being sought by EU officials and an overall impression of high-handedness.

The EU’s industry commissioner — no powerless quangocrat she — says VW’s brand boss didn’t even bother turning up to their meeting.

In fairness, when a company is focusing on damage limitation with its millions of customers, you can see how such bureaucratic fumbles can happen.

But they’re extremely dangerous.