Volkswagen has admitted to fitting 11 million diesel engines worldwide with sophisticated software created to skew the results of tests for nitrogen oxide emissions.
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Since the EPA first disclosed in September that Volkswagen had been deceiving diesel emissions testers for years, the company has drawn criticism around the world.
The new report expanded the number of VW, Audi and Porsche 3-liter luxury cars involved in the problem to about 85,000 in the USA alone, compared to 10,000 in initial estimates.
In fact, in a meeting with EPA officials, representatives from VW and Audi said that none of their 3.0-liter diesel engines have complied with USA emissions regulations since 2009.
The affected engine is used in various Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche models including the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7; Volkswagen Toaureg and Porsche Cayenne.
Embattled manufacturer Volkswagen has submitted what it claims is a fix for its controversial diesel powertrains to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and California Air Resource board.
Regulators announced on November 20 that the Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker had confessed that emissions control equipment was installed on its 3.0-liter diesel-powered cars dating back to 2009.
Clearly, VW are going to have another mess to clear up in the United States with the 3.0 litre diesel engines, but it’s unacceptable – if it proves to be the case – that they will escape any kind of sanction in Europe because the regulations are so flawed that the actual emissions of NOx are not subject to limits.
The carmaker said three “auxiliary emission control devices” it had installed were not declared in line with USA approvals.
“We are operating in uncertain and volatile times and are responding to this”, says VW chief Matthias Mueller.
“We are fully cooperating with the environmental authorities and working on concrete measures that will resolve this situation”, Mr Ward said.
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“We are willing to take another crack at reprogramming to a degree that the regulators deem acceptable”, Stertz said. If the fix is approved, VW will work with regulators to develop a national recall plan, which could start early next year.
