The rating agency on Wednesday downgraded VW’s rating by one step to A3 from A2 with a negative outlook, saying that the embattled corporation’s reputation and earnings were at risk by the increasing allegations on emissions cheating scandal.
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In its report, the EPA specifically mentioned models including the 2015 Porsche Cayenne; the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg; and 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5.
The EPA’s second notice of violation issued to Volkswagen covers 10,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since the model year 2014 and an “unknown volume” of model 2016 cars.
The exhaust pipes of an up to date Audi auto blow out not visible emissions during the engine start in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, November 4, 2015. In this latest case, the problem involves not nitrogen oxide but carbon dioxide and includes a few models fitted not only with diesel engines but also, for the first time, 1.4-liter gasoline-powered engines.
VW previously admitted that up to 11 million diesel vehicles were equipped with software that allowed them to pass emissions tests by temporarily lowering pollution levels, only to turn this software off during normal operation. But this week, the US government accused Volkswagen of cheating on six-cylinder diesels in Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche cars and SUVs. Now the software is turning up in the more powerful V6 engines commonly found in sports and luxury cars.
The larger engines are installed on high-priced Volkswagens, Audis and the Porsche Cayenne.
The company announced late Tuesday that it understated the amount of emissions of carbon dioxide in as many as 800,000 vehicle sold across Europe and because of that their usage as well. Volkswagen lost 1.67 billion euros ($1.83 billion) in the third quarter, due largely to recall costs, and it warned that 2015 operating profit would fall significantly.
The California Air Resources Board and the EPA on Monday said that they had installed an illegal software on the models in order to evade the U.S. standards as far as nitrogen oxide emissions were concerned. It will recall at least 8.5 million cars in Europe and another 500,000 in the U.S.
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In talks with the authorities – whom Volkswagen did not identify – the company said it hoped to come up with a “reliable assessment of the legal, and the subsequent economic consequences, of this not yet fully explained issue”.
