11 million vehicle involved in VW emissions scandal
11 million Volkswagen vehicles worldwide are involved in the scandal that has erupted over its rigging of US car emissions tests.
The state of the art Software that triggers the pollution controls only when the car is being tested for emissions.
The German car giant has admitted massaging the emissions tests in the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) Claims that some cars being sold in America had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they are being tested, altering the performance accordingly to improve results.
In the US, VW’s marketing campaign blowing its trumpet on the VW’s low emission diesel cars. The EPA’s uncovered 482,000 in US alone, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Gold and Passat.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide are fitted with the so-called “rogue device” and “We have broken the trust of our customers and the public”. While Michael Horn, VW American Boss said “ We’ve totally screwed up”. According to EPA the engines has computer software that could sense test scenarios by monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and position of the steering wheel. When the cars were operating under controlled test laboratory conditions, the device appears to have put the vehicle into a safety mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance. But once the car returns to public roads, the engines some how switched from this test mode to more powerful engine performance with obvious more emissions of nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above the allowed limit in the US.
£4.7bn (€ 6.5bn ) has been set aside immediately to deal with 500,000 VW cars recalled in US alone. Moreover, could fine a company up to £11.7bn $18bn or £24, 375 ($37,500) per rogue vehicle. This triggered worldwide investigations in Italy, France, South Korea and Germany.
According to The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders “The EU operates a basic different system to the US – with all the European tests performed in strict conditions complying with EU Law and witnessed by a government-appointed independent approval agency”. The Industry however acknowledges that the current test format and method is outdated and is seeking agreement from European Commission for a new stricter emissions test that embraces new testing technologies and is more representative of on-road conditions”.
VW shares sank by 20 per cent having dropped already 19 per cent on Monday. Shares in other car manufacturers also feel, with Renault and Daimler down 7 per cent, and BMW down 5 per cent.