The cars’ engine software was designed by VW to restrict pollution only when it sensed it was being tested for it-and run more lax controls at all other times. During normal driving these devices – which are a piece of software inside the engine’s computer – allowed up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides (NOx) to be produced.
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But the biggest toll could be felt by Volkswagen’s consumer brand, particularly in the U.S. The company has been working hard to grab more of the US auto market; these events could certainly be a roadblock towards that goal.
Volkswagen said Tuesday it was forced to set aside $7.3 billion to cover the cost of a rapidly widening scandal over its emissions technology – adding that the problem could be vastly greater than previously believed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the software on VW diesel cars showed false emission data. Due to the ongoing investigations the amounts estimated may be subject to revaluation.
And the scandal keeps growing.
“I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public”, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said in a statement. Earnings targets, as you can imagine, will also have to be adjusted.
The USA government also has reason to feel duped: Volkswagen’s “clean diesel” TDI engines earned a ,300 federal tax credit for people who purchased a Jetta sedan or wagon back in 2009, the first year affected by the recall. “We have totally screwed up”.
It read: “Further internal investigations conducted to date have established that the relevant engine management software is also installed in other Volkswagen Group vehicles with diesel engines”.
The EPA and the California Air Resources Board uncovered the defeat device software after independent analysis at West Virginia University raised questions about the cars’ emissions levels.
Even before Tuesday’s statement, a member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board suggested that heads will roll in the wake of the scandal, though he said it was too soon to start assigning blame.
Speaking on Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio, Olaf Lies cautioned against “over-hasty calls for resignations”.
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A Seattle law firm announced on Monday that it was filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of clients in 20 states-and that it planned to cover the entire country by the end of the week-for allegedly fraudulently marketing the cars to consumers as “clean diesels”.
