The difference in potential fines is partly because GM , which was fined $900 million and set aside another $575 million for lawsuit settlements, and Toyota which was fined $1.2 billion is they were fined by the NHTSA while VW's is from the EPA which has the ability to fine up to $37,500 per vehicle. It's easy to see how GM's ignition and Toyota's unintended acceleration scandals are more serious ,as they killed people , compared to VW's emission cheating so people expect the fines to represent that but that's not how it works . It may not be fair but it's the law, the EPA has more power to levy fines than the NHTSA . I don't expect most people are aware of this , especially people abroad, and looking up this info isn't as much fun as accusing the U.S. of jingoism or peeking out the windows checking for the black helicopters but hey....