In addition, most of the diesel vehicles sold in the United States – 320,000 out of a total of 480,000 – are equipped with older emissions technology that could be harder to make compliant.
Advertisement
Announcing the results of the tests, the Environment Ministry also said it was fining the company 14.1 billion won ($12.3 million).
Early in November, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said all current models sold under the VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands – with both diesel and gasoline engines – would be tested for carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions.
Last week, VW submitted its plan to fix cars in the U.S.to the EPA and the California Air Resources Board.
While the group did not accuse Renault of using a software to cheat emission tests, it points out that the passenger van only met pollution limits when its motor was cold.
Australia has said that there are 91,000 vehicles with cheating software, meanwhile, Volkswagen India has found compliance issue in 100,000 vehicles. There are almost 500,000 affected vehicles in the US, and while Audi believes its 3.0-liter V6 TDI engines can be fixed with a software update alone, that still leaves an estimated 325,000 vehicles that may need more extensive changes made.
The probe will be carried out on 16 carmakers selling diesel models here, which will include the country’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp.
CARB’s order starts the clock on the second US recall to stem from Volkswagen’s emissions scandal.
But Volkswagen will have gone a long way toward overcoming the crisis it faces if it can fix the cars in Europe.
They then switch off the controls when the auto is on the road, allowing it to spew out harmful levels of emissions.
Investigation Into Emissions to Take Months, VW Chief SaysVW Cuts Its R.&D. However, given the scope of the recall, the automaker said it expects the full process to take all year.
Advertisement
In September, VW admitted to installing defeat devices in about 11 million 2.0 liter engine vehicles worldwide.
