European Union officials tipped off a USA environmental group about Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scam, an American official told German media, as the embattled company said the widening scandal had hurt sales.
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The Wolfsburg-based company, which admitted in September to cheating on USA tests for nitrogen oxides, said last week that its internal investigation had also turned up issues with Carbon dioxide testing in 800,000 cars in Europe, including nearly 100,000 petrol models.
“We have to think that maybe people will give the vehicle back”, said a spokesman for VW.
The company says up to 11 million cars have the deceptive software, and adds that it has uncovered “irregularities” in measurements of how much carbon dioxide the cars emit.
Volkswagen’s automotive division had €27.8 billion in net liquidity at the end of the third quarter, with the auto maker categorizing about €10 billion of that as a buffer to support credit ratings.
Sales in Western Europe fell by 1 percent, with the biggest drops recorded in the emerging economies of Brazil and Russian Federation where business had slumped because of a general slowdown rather than because of the pollution scandal.
Under the whistle-blower program, approved by VW’s top management, workers who get in touch with internal investigators no later than November 30 are to be exempt from dismissals and damage claims, according to a letter from Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess to staff seen by reporters on Thursday. Sales in North America including Canada rose 3.5 percent from the same month a year earlier.
The suit alleges that defendant Porsche installed “defeat devices” on its 3.0-liter diesel engines, including vehicles such as the 2014 – 2016 Porsche Cayenne Diesel. Meaning owners cars aren’t as fuel efficient as they thought they were.
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Volkswagen isn’t the only company under fire for dieselgate. Volkswagen AG is seeking the money so that it can have a financial cushion.
