Much ado has been made about how Volkswagen would address the 8.5 million or so European diesel vehicles caught up in the software cheating scandal. Among the concerns was that the 1.6 and 2.0-liter TDI engines that make up a bulk of the recall, would suffer some loss of fuel economy, performance, or both. Another chief concern was that the fix would be costly, eating into the 6.7 billion euro fund the automaker set aside to deal with the fix.

Well the fix is in, and for about 8.2 million of the 8.5 million affected European diesels, the “fix” is little more than a straight pipe with an egg-crate pattern to smooth out the air ahead of the air-mass sensor on the 1.6-liter TDIs, in addition to a software update. The 2.0-liter diesels will only require the software update, and Volkswagen says that neither fix will result in a loss of fuel efficiency or power.

This fix will take no more than an hour (but really like five minutes) for the affected vehicles. So why not just put in this so-called “flow transformer” in the first place?

Did Volkswagen discard this idea as too costly when initially trying to pass emissions standards? Probably not. Was there pressure from the higher-ups to pass emissions tests, using whatever means necessary? That could be the case, with the latest rumors suggesting that Volkswagen knew as early as 2007 that using the defect device would be against the law.

A fix is still pending for the European 1.2-liter TDI, with Canadian and U.S. fixes still underway as well. Keep in mind that while the fix seems stupidly-simple today, these engines were being developed nearly a decade ago. Think about how much better a 2015 model vehicle is compared to a 2005, in literally every way. Between the software and “flow transformer”, Volkswagen has managed to solve most of its woes in one fell swoop. It’s still keeping its emergency fund intact, and sales of Volkswagen vehicles have taken a nosedive pretty much across the board.

With a fix in place, Volkswagen can perhaps start to move beyond this scandal, and wait for the next corporation to wear the villain outfit for awhile.