The 2015 Volkswagen Passat is one of a number of vehicles that has VW in trouble with U.S. authorities over diesel emissions.
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“Most” Fiat Chrysler vehicles will be hybrids by 2025, the company’s CEO says.
The news that Porsche vehicles might also have had the deceptive software is a potential embarrassment for Mueller, who headed Porsche before he became CEO.
Moody’s said it had downgraded Volkswagen’s credit rating to A3/P-2 with a negative outlook due to this revelation.
VW shares fell 1.5 percent to close at 111 euros. USA regulators have accused the German auto giant of cheating a second time on emissions tests.
While VW hasn’t identified which vehicles across which brands are apart of this of Carbon dioxide emission misclassification, it does say, “The safety of the vehicles is in no way compromised”.
Two other VW brands – Seat and Skoda – are also suffering sales declines.
While smaller diesel motors account for the vast majority of affected cars, a specific type of 1.4-liter gasoline engine is also involved. “The addition of multiple nameplates may confuse consumers into associating this scandal with all diesel powertrains”.
VW said preliminary estimates of the economic risks of the inconsistencies detected amount to about 2 billion euros (£1.42 billion), without being more specific. The automaker will determine how much money to set aside once the probe has been finalized, he said.
Audi said on Tuesday it had not installed defeat devices in its 3 litre V6 diesel engines and is aiming to meet with California regulators in the next week to explain its position as well as how the software works. The company has hired law firm Jones Day to investigate. “If you’ve based your thesis on the idea that Germany will outperform, suddenly the data doesn’t seem to be backing that up”, Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG said.
Mueller has pledged to overhaul the company’s autocratic corporate culture, which he said must change to create a more transparent environment that can discover possible faults. VW “deeply regrets this situation” and “will stop at nothing and nobody” to get to the bottom of the matter, he said.
The US Environmental Protection Agency said it is now looking at 3.0-liter V6 diesel engines used mostly in larger, more expensive models like the Porsche Cayenne sport utility vehicle in addition to engines on Jettas, Passats and other mass-market models whose test-deceiving software were initially targeted by the agency in mid-September.
The effects of the scandal have so far barely been reflected in VW sales figures – although it was the only German carmaker to report a decline in vehicle registrations in Germany in October.
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VW sales in the United Kingdom are down by more than 8% over the same period previous year, I understand.
