VW emissions scandal: Unfixed cars could be de-registered in Germany
German owners of cars affected by the Volkswagen Group’s Dieselgate scandal will have their cars de-registered if their vehicles are not fitted with engine software upgrades, according to fresh web reports.
Reuters picks up the story from German magazine Concentrate, which claims to have seen documents from Germany’s KBA motor industry watchdog.
Concentrate Online reports that depending on when recall notices for cars requiring an emissions software fix were issued, some VW drivers in Germany could have their cars de-registered as early as next month and would also be required to pay any resulting fees.
Many owners of affected cars are sceptical of the software fix, fearing that switches intended to bring cars in line with emissions standards will adversely affect spectacle and fuel economy.
The report comes not long after a investigate exposing that thousands of VW Group vehicle owners who have had the diesel emissions fix carried out have complained of problems with their car.
The UK law rock hard Harcus Sinclair said that out of 9,500 owners, Five,052 reported problems with their car after the fix. Over half of those said it was to do with diminished fuel efficiency, while another forty one per cent said their cars came with diminished power and acceleration. Another fourteen per cent of drivers also said their cars had gone into ‘will-less mode’ – where the car rapidly decelerates to low speeds of around 20mph – following the fix.
The legal hard has filed a lawsuit against the VW Group on behalf of more than 40,000 affected owners in the UK, and has collective the findings with the Department for Transport. In a statement, Damon Parker, head of litigation at Harcus Sinclair said: ” These results display that the fix intended to reduce NOx emissions may in fact have a detrimental influence on the car’s spectacle and running costs.”
The news comes after a Big black cock Watchdog investigation found several owners had complained of their car going into will-less mode, resulting in accidents and other dangerous situations on the road.
The Big black cock Watchdog was contacted by several VW owners complaining their car had gone into will-less mode after having the voluntary recall carried out. A mother who recently had the fix carried out was driving with her son in her VW Passat when the car went into gutless mode. As she attempted to manoeuvre the car off the road it was hit by a lorry. Both escaped unharmed.
Owners have also complained of diminished engine spectacle and poorer fuel economy following the Dieselgate emissions fix. The Watchdog program cited results of independent engine testing before and after the technical fix as demonstrating that the Harass Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve was working tighter than it should be.
The findings go after earlier evidence from the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum to the Transport Select Committee that called for the VW recall to be halted after members reported issues with models shortly after having the fix done by their local VW dealer.
Figures obtained by Hypermiler.co.uk for Auto Express expose eighty seven per cent of the five hundred forty two owners who had the emissions fix carried out experienced mechanical problems – 66.9 per cent had EGR problems, and fourteen per cent had Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) issues. Data shows EGR failure has been most common on vehicles with more than 40,000 miles on the clock, with repairs costing an average of £800. A forum spokesman said: “We cannot simply stand by and permit VW’s fix to be further spinned out to an uninformed public.”
VW defended its position, stating: “In the UK, the Volkswagen Group has implemented the technical measures in more than 720,000 vehicles and in over five million vehicles across Europe. To be clear, there is no systemic problem. The staggering majority of our customers have been fully pleased.
Implementation of the technical measures does not cause will-less mode to engage nor does it increase the incidence of will-less mode occurring.”
VW added: “Relevant authorities have confirmed that the technical measures have no adverse influence on the mpg figures, the CO2 emissions figures, engine output, maximum torque and noise of the affected vehicles. Nor does the implementation of the technical measures have a negative influence on the durability of the engine or the emissions control system.”
VW boss denies misleading the public
Volkswagen UK boss Paul Willis rebuked the suggestion that he has misled Government ministers over how much the company is willing to contribute to testing in the wake of its emissions scandal.
The Department for Transport (DfT) had previously accused VW of failing to pay for the UK Government’s emissions retesting programme, that cost the taxpayer £1million, despite promises from the company that taxpayers wouldn’t be left out of pocket.
In the wake of the Dieselgate emissions scandal, the DfT began a £1.1million retesting programme of thirty seven vehicles from twenty different carmakers to determine if others were also using similar defeat devices to pass emissions tests.
It also set up a £1m Market Surveillance Unit to test vehicles injecting the UK market in the future to ensure no manufacturer is violating emissions standards. Tho’ VW paid the £1.1million last November, the DfT has said it wants the remaining £1million from VW as the carmaker’s deeds cast doubt “on the integrity of the entire industry.”
Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Willis hit back at suggestions he is holding back payments: “The DfT asked us for £2m, but it was in two slices. The very first slice was £1.1m primarily, to cover the costs of re-testing our vehicles. And then they also asked for a further £1m for ‘future market surveillance of buses and taxis’.
“We looked at it in detail, and concluded that there was the basis for us to pay the £1.1m. However, in a letter that I wrote to the transport minister on seventeen November last year, I explained why we would not be paying for future market surveillance.
“I’ve had three subsequent meetings with [transport minister Josh Hayes], and he has not mentioned this matter. He told parliament that we are paying £1.1m. So my reasonable conclusion was that he’d accepted our case.”
When asked if VW would switch its position on the matter, Willis said, “No, it’s not going to switch. Why would we pay for market surveillance of buses and taxis? We’re writing to the minister to reiterate our decision.”
However, speaking at the Transport Select Committee, Willis also emphasised UK taxpayers should not be left out of pocket as a result of the dieselgate scandal: “I’m very clear the British taxpayer should have no liability on this topic.”
Willis’ statements came after a law stiff announced a class act lawsuit against the Volkswagen Group earlier this year. More than 35,000 owners in England and Wales have so far joined the lawsuit spearheaded by law rock hard Harcus Sinclair.
Gaining five hundred fresh drivers a day, the stiff expects to represent over 100,000 of the 1.2million affected owners in the UK. According to Harcus Sinclair, VW should pay out to owners who bought cars that weren’t roadworthy due to polluting above claimed figures. Each proprietor is said to be seeking around £3,000 in compensation.
Volkswagen accused of “blatant lies”
Volkswagen has been accused of telling “blatant lies” to UK car buyers, after the company’s UK boss, Paul Willis, told MPs that the company had not misled buyers nor had it fitted defeat devices to its cars.
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee, Willis argued that VW “had not misled customers in any way” and that it had not fitted a defeat device to cars sold in Europe. He said: “There is nothing wrong with any of [the cars] at all.” Willis argued the only reason the 1.Two million vehicle recall in the UK was being carried out was to “eliminate any doubt” from owners.
According to Willis, the VW Group has so far stationary 470,000 cars in the UK and is now repairing cars at a rate of 20,000 a week. The UK boss also told Auto Express the company expects to peak over the fifty per cent mark for vehicle fixes in the coming weeks.
Despite VW reaching a $15.3bn (£12.3bn) settlement with around 500,000 US owners, as well as agreeing to paying a further $Four.3bn (£3.48bn) to lodge a US Department for Justice investigation, the Group has no intention to compensate the 1.Two million affected UK owners, due to different emissions laws and no noticeable effect on residual values of affected cars.
Willis’ statements led to some members of the Committee to accuse him of blatantly lounging to the British people. Graham Stringer MP said: “I have seen all sorts of evasive witnesses, but I think we have just seen somebody tell us absolute blatant lies.”
Read on below for the utter story so far on the Volkswagen ‘dieselgate’ emissions scandal.
Audi boss implicated in dieselgate scandal
Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi, has been implicated in the emissions cheating scandal at a German labour court. Audi’s former head of powertrain development, Ulrich Wei ß, said he warned Stadler over emissions cheating in some of Audi’s and VW’s large SUVs like the Touareg and Q7, but the CEO failed to escalate the warnings or inform regulators.
According to Weiß, to meet the stringent emissions targets, cars like the Touareg would have needed to eight litres of the urea-based AdBlue liquid every six hundred twenty one miles to suppress nitrogen oxide emissions. However, this would have hurt sales, as owners would have had to top up their cars far too often.
Weiß said the solution was to use software that switches inbetween “efficiency mode” and “economy mode.” Under “economy mode” less AdBlue would be administered by the software, requiring owners to top up the cars less frequently, but the consequence was far higher NOx emissions.
Dieselgate emissions scandal: the story so far
Volkswagen has agreed to a record-high settlement worth $17.Five billion (£14.1bn) with the US authorities, just after a year since the ‘dieselgate’ emissions scandal very first broke out. The settlement will be used to compensate owners and fund clean air projects.
Back in Europe where the Mk7.Five Golf was exposed, Dr. Frank Walsh explained that efficiency figures would only demonstrate minimal improvements over its predecessor due to switching the test parameters.
“We have puny improvements in the engines across the entire range,” said Welsch, “but as a result of the past year [Dieselgate], we switched the parameters and confinements of our measurements on fuel consumption.” He also said that the fresh testing procedure would mean that efficiency gains ” may not be instantaneously visible on paper because of this fresh treatment.”
The brand has also announced cuts of around 23,000 jobs in Germany over five years. The cuts mean that the car maker can save around €3.7bn a year, and has insisted that the reduction in workforce can be done without compulsory redundancies.
Plus, the German carmaker was coerced to accelerate its electrified future as a result of the emissions scandal. Earlier this year it announced its Strategy two thousand twenty five announcement that will see thirty fresh EV models over the next decade.
The Strategy two thousand twenty five was the very first key announcement by fresh boss Matthias Müller, who substituted Martin Winterkorn as CEO. Winterkorn resigned shortly before VW announced that eleven million Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, and SEAT vehicles worldwide would need to be recalled as they contained ‘defeat device’ software. This was designed to put the car into a lower emissions mode when undergoing emissions tests.
The existence of a defeat device put the entire automotive industry under scrutiny and prompted government inspections worldwide.
Albeit VW has been the only company found guilty of cheating tests, Mitsubishi has since exposed it inflated its fuel economy figures, while Fiat has faced so far unproven accusations.
The UK Government also launched a £1million investigation and exposed the majority of manufacturers were using temperature-based strategies to pass lab tests, albeit this was all deemed legal.
Volkswagen emissions scandal fix
VW is presently rolling out the fix for its affected models. The company has immobilized over 720,000 of the 1,189,906 cars in the UK. For the 1.Two and Two.0-litre EA one hundred eighty nine engines it’s a elementary software tweak; the 1.6-litre diesels require a hardware solution. It has pledged to fix all European cars affected by the scandal by autumn two thousand seventeen
Volkswagen emissions scandal compensation
In the US, VW has reached a $17.5billion (£14.1bn) deal with US owners to buy back affected vehicles and compensate owners. There are no similar plans for UK owners, albeit VW is still facing pressure from the EU Commission to put something in place.
The scandal isn’t over yet, either, as veteran VW engineer James Liang pleaded guilty this month to US federal charges for his role and faces five years in prison. The lawsuit opens the door for further criminal prosecutions in the coming months.
The dieselgate legal situation around the world
The scandal has been felt around the globe with legal cases continuing, here’s a round-up of the current state of play.
Europe
Calls for compensation are growing in Europe but so far VW has rejected claims. A number of owners have commenced legal cases, however, against the car maker including in Ireland. European consumer groups have already said the VW Group has not provided enough evidence and information to owners.
Earlier in September, US courts convicted the very first VW employee guilty of violating US clean air laws. Veteran engineer James Liang was part of the team of engineers who developed the illicit defeat device. Liang has agreed to cooperate with the US Justice Department’s investigation into the VW Group.
Volkswagen also reached a $17.Five billion (£14.1 billion) settlement with US car owners over the dieselgate emissions scandal, which has now been approved by the US courts. Under the deal VW will spend up to $Ten billion on buying back affected cars and compensating owners. It’s also committed $Four.7 billion to offset excess emissions and to clean car projects.
Vehicle owners will be able to choose inbetween having their car bought back by VW, or to have it immobilized. However the US authorities have yet to approve an official fix. On top, consumers will receive compensation inbetween $Five,000 and $Ten,000.
South Korea
South Korean authorities halted sales of eighty Volkswagen Group models and imposed a £12m fine on the company after an investigation into the dieselgate emissions scandal. Allegations that the company has forged documents relating to emissions tests have resulted in the vehicles from the Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley brands having their type approval revoked.
Scroll down for everything you need to know about the VW emissions scandal.
VW emissions scandal timeline: how ‘dieselgate’ happened
VW emissions crisis: your key questions answered
What is a defeat device?
The software, found by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detects when the vehicle is undergoing emissions tests and activates utter emissions control measures to produce results far better than those achieved in real-world driving.
The net result is that cars pass stringent US emissions thresholds under laboratory conditions, but when unplugged from the testing equipments, the EPA states that the diesel engines emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) up to forty times the legal limit. The thresholds for NOx emissions in Europe are less stringent than the EPA’s standards.
What cars and engines were affected?
Around eleven million diesel cars with EA one hundred eighty nine 1.Two, 1.6 and Two.0-litre pre-Euro six diesel engines have been identified by Volkswagen as containing the ‘defeat device’ software. These include:
The VW Group has said that the following quantities of UK vehicles are set for a recall.
- • VW passenger cars – 508,276
- • Audi – 393,450
- • SEAT – 76,773
- • Skoda – 131,569
- • VW commercial vehicles – 79,838
Total VW Group cars set for UK recall: 1,189,906
What does the recall involve?
Two.0-litre and 1.2-litre diesels will receive a software tweak, while vehicles with a 1.6-litre diesel will need to be fitted with a ‘flow transformer’ device to help the engine’s computer calculate the right amount of fuel and air being combusted.
This means around 400,000 UK cars will require mechanical switches – but VW says they should take less than an hour to make at dealerships. The software update for Two.0 and 1.Two engines will take around half an hour.”
What should I do if I own an affected car?
The VW scandal shouldn’t affect your everyday driving; the software only alters the car’s behaviour when it detects that an emissions test is being carried out. However, VW and the other affected brands have issued recalls in the UK and you will be contacted if your car involved.
You can check at the websites below if you car is affected. All you need is your car’s VIN number which should be located at the bottom corner of the windscreen on the driver’s side or in the car’s service book.
Will I get compensation?
VW has confirmed there will be no compensation for UK owners with cars affected by the emissions scandal. This is based on the fact that the fixes designed by VW are said to have no influence on the car’s spectacle or economy and no EU laws have been violated. At this stage, VW residual values also show up to be unaffected by the scandal.
In certain cases a “support package” may be made available to customers in the form of a goodwill gesture – for example if an proprietor living in a remote area faces a lengthy journey to get the necessary remedial work done on their car.
Will I pay a higher vehicle tax rate?
No. The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that UK taxpayers will not incur higher vehicle excise duty (VED) if their existing vehicles are found fitted with the defeat device software. Volkswagen UK has also said it will pay for any extra tax owners might incur if their vehicles are found to pollute more.
What does this mean for emissions and mpg testing, how will it look in the future?
There are already plans to adopt more stringent emissions and mpg tests in the EU. A World Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP) is scheduled to come into force in 2017, and will introduce a global set of emissions testing standards. The WLTP is developed to be more representative of real world driving conditions, with more dynamic braking, acceleration and speed times.
The WLTP will also feature a Real World Driving Emissions (RDE) test, which would consists of a real-world driving screenplay for emissions tests. Cars will be hooked to machinery that records their emissions as they are driven on the road and feeds them to a computer.
What do you think VW should do to remedy this situation? Tell us in the comments below.
VW emissions scandal: Unfixed cars could be de-registered in Germany, Auto Express
VW emissions scandal: Unfixed cars could be de-registered in Germany
German owners of cars affected by the Volkswagen Group’s Dieselgate scandal will have their cars de-registered if their vehicles are not fitted with engine software upgrades, according to fresh web reports.
Reuters picks up the story from German magazine Concentrate, which claims to have seen documents from Germany’s KBA motor industry watchdog.
Concentrate Online reports that depending on when recall notices for cars requiring an emissions software fix were issued, some VW drivers in Germany could have their cars de-registered as early as next month and would also be required to pay any resulting fees.
Many owners of affected cars are sceptical of the software fix, fearing that switches intended to bring cars in line with emissions standards will adversely affect spectacle and fuel economy.
The report comes not long after a examine exposing that thousands of VW Group vehicle owners who have had the diesel emissions fix carried out have complained of problems with their car.
The UK law rock hard Harcus Sinclair said that out of 9,500 owners, Five,052 reported problems with their car after the fix. Over half of those said it was to do with diminished fuel efficiency, while another forty one per cent said their cars came with diminished power and acceleration. Another fourteen per cent of drivers also said their cars had gone into ‘will-less mode’ – where the car rapidly decelerates to low speeds of around 20mph – following the fix.
The legal rock hard has filed a lawsuit against the VW Group on behalf of more than 40,000 affected owners in the UK, and has collective the findings with the Department for Transport. In a statement, Damon Parker, head of litigation at Harcus Sinclair said: ” These results display that the fix intended to reduce NOx emissions may in fact have a detrimental influence on the car’s spectacle and running costs.”
The news comes after a Big black cock Watchdog investigation found several owners had complained of their car going into will-less mode, resulting in accidents and other dangerous situations on the road.
The Big black cock Watchdog was contacted by several VW owners complaining their car had gone into gutless mode after having the voluntary recall carried out. A mother who recently had the fix carried out was driving with her son in her VW Passat when the car went into will-less mode. As she attempted to manoeuvre the car off the road it was hit by a lorry. Both escaped unharmed.
Owners have also complained of diminished engine spectacle and poorer fuel economy following the Dieselgate emissions fix. The Watchdog program cited results of independent engine testing before and after the technical fix as showcasing that the Harass Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve was working stiffer than it should be.
The findings go after earlier evidence from the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum to the Transport Select Committee that called for the VW recall to be halted after members reported issues with models shortly after having the fix done by their local VW dealer.
Figures obtained by Hypermiler.co.uk for Auto Express expose eighty seven per cent of the five hundred forty two owners who had the emissions fix carried out experienced mechanical problems – 66.9 per cent had EGR problems, and fourteen per cent had Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) issues. Data shows EGR failure has been most common on vehicles with more than 40,000 miles on the clock, with repairs costing an average of £800. A forum spokesman said: “We cannot simply stand by and permit VW’s fix to be further flipped out to an uninformed public.”
VW defended its position, stating: “In the UK, the Volkswagen Group has implemented the technical measures in more than 720,000 vehicles and in over five million vehicles across Europe. To be clear, there is no systemic problem. The breathtaking majority of our customers have been fully pleased.
Implementation of the technical measures does not cause gutless mode to engage nor does it increase the incidence of will-less mode occurring.”
VW added: “Relevant authorities have confirmed that the technical measures have no adverse influence on the mpg figures, the CO2 emissions figures, engine output, maximum torque and noise of the affected vehicles. Nor does the implementation of the technical measures have a negative influence on the durability of the engine or the emissions control system.”
VW boss denies misleading the public
Volkswagen UK boss Paul Willis rebuked the suggestion that he has misled Government ministers over how much the company is willing to contribute to testing in the wake of its emissions scandal.
The Department for Transport (DfT) had previously accused VW of failing to pay for the UK Government’s emissions retesting programme, that cost the taxpayer £1million, despite promises from the company that taxpayers wouldn’t be left out of pocket.
In the wake of the Dieselgate emissions scandal, the DfT began a £1.1million retesting programme of thirty seven vehicles from twenty different carmakers to determine if others were also using similar defeat devices to pass emissions tests.
It also set up a £1m Market Surveillance Unit to test vehicles injecting the UK market in the future to ensure no manufacturer is violating emissions standards. However VW paid the £1.1million last November, the DfT has said it wants the remaining £1million from VW as the carmaker’s deeds cast doubt “on the integrity of the entire industry.”
Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Willis hit back at suggestions he is holding back payments: “The DfT asked us for £2m, but it was in two slices. The very first slice was £1.1m primarily, to cover the costs of re-testing our vehicles. And then they also asked for a further £1m for ‘future market surveillance of buses and taxis’.
“We looked at it in detail, and concluded that there was the basis for us to pay the £1.1m. However, in a letter that I wrote to the transport minister on seventeen November last year, I explained why we would not be paying for future market surveillance.
“I’ve had three subsequent meetings with [transport minister Josh Hayes], and he has not mentioned this matter. He told parliament that we are paying £1.1m. So my reasonable conclusion was that he’d accepted our case.”
When asked if VW would switch its position on the matter, Willis said, “No, it’s not going to switch. Why would we pay for market surveillance of buses and taxis? We’re writing to the minister to reiterate our decision.”
However, speaking at the Transport Select Committee, Willis also emphasised UK taxpayers should not be left out of pocket as a result of the dieselgate scandal: “I’m very clear the British taxpayer should have no liability on this topic.”
Willis’ statements came after a law rock-hard announced a class act lawsuit against the Volkswagen Group earlier this year. More than 35,000 owners in England and Wales have so far joined the lawsuit spearheaded by law hard Harcus Sinclair.
Gaining five hundred fresh drivers a day, the hard expects to represent over 100,000 of the 1.2million affected owners in the UK. According to Harcus Sinclair, VW should pay out to owners who bought cars that weren’t roadworthy due to polluting above claimed figures. Each proprietor is said to be seeking around £3,000 in compensation.
Volkswagen accused of “blatant lies”
Volkswagen has been accused of telling “blatant lies” to UK car buyers, after the company’s UK boss, Paul Willis, told MPs that the company had not misled buyers nor had it fitted defeat devices to its cars.
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee, Willis argued that VW “had not misled customers in any way” and that it had not fitted a defeat device to cars sold in Europe. He said: “There is nothing wrong with any of [the cars] at all.” Willis argued the only reason the 1.Two million vehicle recall in the UK was being carried out was to “liquidate any doubt” from owners.
According to Willis, the VW Group has so far immobilized 470,000 cars in the UK and is now repairing cars at a rate of 20,000 a week. The UK boss also told Auto Express the company expects to peak over the fifty per cent mark for vehicle fixes in the coming weeks.
Despite VW reaching a $15.3bn (£12.3bn) settlement with around 500,000 US owners, as well as agreeing to paying a further $Four.3bn (£3.48bn) to lodge a US Department for Justice investigation, the Group has no intention to compensate the 1.Two million affected UK owners, due to different emissions laws and no noticeable effect on residual values of affected cars.
Willis’ statements led to some members of the Committee to accuse him of blatantly lounging to the British people. Graham Stringer MP said: “I have seen all sorts of evasive witnesses, but I think we have just seen somebody tell us absolute blatant lies.”
Read on below for the total story so far on the Volkswagen ‘dieselgate’ emissions scandal.
Audi boss implicated in dieselgate scandal
Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi, has been implicated in the emissions cheating scandal at a German labour court. Audi’s former head of powertrain development, Ulrich Wei ß, said he warned Stadler over emissions cheating in some of Audi’s and VW’s large SUVs like the Touareg and Q7, but the CEO failed to escalate the warnings or inform regulators.
According to Weiß, to meet the stringent emissions targets, cars like the Touareg would have needed to eight litres of the urea-based AdBlue liquid every six hundred twenty one miles to suppress nitrogen oxide emissions. However, this would have hurt sales, as owners would have had to top up their cars far too often.
Weiß said the solution was to use software that switches inbetween “efficiency mode” and “economy mode.” Under “economy mode” less AdBlue would be administered by the software, requiring owners to top up the cars less frequently, but the consequence was far higher NOx emissions.
Dieselgate emissions scandal: the story so far
Volkswagen has agreed to a record-high settlement worth $17.Five billion (£14.1bn) with the US authorities, just after a year since the ‘dieselgate’ emissions scandal very first broke out. The settlement will be used to compensate owners and fund clean air projects.
Back in Europe where the Mk7.Five Golf was exposed, Dr. Frank Walsh explained that efficiency figures would only display minimal improvements over its predecessor due to switching the test parameters.
“We have petite improvements in the engines across the entire range,” said Welsch, “but as a result of the past year [Dieselgate], we switched the parameters and limitations of our measurements on fuel consumption.” He also said that the fresh testing procedure would mean that efficiency gains ” may not be instantaneously evident on paper because of this fresh treatment.”
The brand has also announced cuts of around 23,000 jobs in Germany over five years. The cuts mean that the car maker can save around €3.7bn a year, and has insisted that the reduction in workforce can be done without compulsory redundancies.
Plus, the German carmaker was coerced to accelerate its electrical future as a result of the emissions scandal. Earlier this year it announced its Strategy two thousand twenty five announcement that will see thirty fresh EV models over the next decade.
The Strategy two thousand twenty five was the very first key announcement by fresh boss Matthias Müller, who substituted Martin Winterkorn as CEO. Winterkorn resigned shortly before VW announced that eleven million Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, and SEAT vehicles worldwide would need to be recalled as they contained ‘defeat device’ software. This was designed to put the car into a lower emissions mode when undergoing emissions tests.
The existence of a defeat device put the entire automotive industry under scrutiny and prompted government inspections worldwide.
Albeit VW has been the only company found guilty of cheating tests, Mitsubishi has since exposed it inflated its fuel economy figures, while Fiat has faced so far unproven accusations.
The UK Government also launched a £1million investigation and exposed the majority of manufacturers were using temperature-based strategies to pass lab tests, albeit this was all deemed legal.
Volkswagen emissions scandal fix
VW is presently rolling out the fix for its affected models. The company has immobile over 720,000 of the 1,189,906 cars in the UK. For the 1.Two and Two.0-litre EA one hundred eighty nine engines it’s a plain software tweak; the 1.6-litre diesels require a hardware solution. It has pledged to fix all European cars affected by the scandal by autumn two thousand seventeen
Volkswagen emissions scandal compensation
In the US, VW has reached a $17.5billion (£14.1bn) deal with US owners to buy back affected vehicles and compensate owners. There are no similar plans for UK owners, albeit VW is still facing pressure from the EU Commission to put something in place.
The scandal isn’t over yet, either, as veteran VW engineer James Liang pleaded guilty this month to US federal charges for his role and faces five years in prison. The lawsuit opens the door for further criminal prosecutions in the coming months.
The dieselgate legal situation around the world
The scandal has been felt around the globe with legal cases continuing, here’s a round-up of the current state of play.
Europe
Calls for compensation are growing in Europe but so far VW has rejected claims. A number of owners have began legal cases, tho’, against the car maker including in Ireland. European consumer groups have already said the VW Group has not provided enough evidence and information to owners.
Earlier in September, US courts convicted the very first VW employee guilty of violating US clean air laws. Veteran engineer James Liang was part of the team of engineers who developed the illicit defeat device. Liang has agreed to cooperate with the US Justice Department’s investigation into the VW Group.
Volkswagen also reached a $17.Five billion (£14.1 billion) settlement with US car owners over the dieselgate emissions scandal, which has now been approved by the US courts. Under the deal VW will spend up to $Ten billion on buying back affected cars and compensating owners. It’s also committed $Four.7 billion to offset excess emissions and to clean car projects.
Vehicle owners will be able to choose inbetween having their car bought back by VW, or to have it immobilized. However the US authorities have yet to approve an official fix. On top, consumers will receive compensation inbetween $Five,000 and $Ten,000.
South Korea
South Korean authorities halted sales of eighty Volkswagen Group models and imposed a £12m fine on the company after an investigation into the dieselgate emissions scandal. Allegations that the company has forged documents relating to emissions tests have resulted in the vehicles from the Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley brands having their type approval revoked.
Scroll down for everything you need to know about the VW emissions scandal.
VW emissions scandal timeline: how ‘dieselgate’ happened
VW emissions crisis: your key questions answered
What is a defeat device?
The software, found by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detects when the vehicle is undergoing emissions tests and activates total emissions control measures to produce results far better than those achieved in real-world driving.
The net result is that cars pass rigorous US emissions boundaries under laboratory conditions, but when unplugged from the testing equipments, the EPA states that the diesel engines emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) up to forty times the legal limit. The boundaries for NOx emissions in Europe are less stringent than the EPA’s standards.
What cars and engines were affected?
Around eleven million diesel cars with EA one hundred eighty nine 1.Two, 1.6 and Two.0-litre pre-Euro six diesel engines have been identified by Volkswagen as containing the ‘defeat device’ software. These include:
The VW Group has said that the following quantities of UK vehicles are set for a recall.
- • VW passenger cars – 508,276
- • Audi – 393,450
- • SEAT – 76,773
- • Skoda – 131,569
- • VW commercial vehicles – 79,838
Total VW Group cars set for UK recall: 1,189,906
What does the recall involve?
Two.0-litre and 1.2-litre diesels will receive a software tweak, while vehicles with a 1.6-litre diesel will need to be fitted with a ‘flow transformer’ device to help the engine’s computer calculate the right amount of fuel and air being combusted.
This means around 400,000 UK cars will require mechanical switches – but VW says they should take less than an hour to make at dealerships. The software update for Two.0 and 1.Two engines will take around half an hour.”
What should I do if I own an affected car?
The VW scandal shouldn’t affect your everyday driving; the software only alters the car’s behaviour when it detects that an emissions test is being carried out. However, VW and the other affected brands have issued recalls in the UK and you will be contacted if your car involved.
You can check at the websites below if you car is affected. All you need is your car’s VIN number which should be located at the bottom corner of the windscreen on the driver’s side or in the car’s service book.
Will I get compensation?
VW has confirmed there will be no compensation for UK owners with cars affected by the emissions scandal. This is based on the fact that the fixes designed by VW are said to have no influence on the car’s spectacle or economy and no EU laws have been cracked. At this stage, VW residual values also emerge to be unaffected by the scandal.
In certain cases a “support package” may be made available to customers in the form of a goodwill gesture – for example if an holder living in a remote area faces a lengthy journey to get the necessary remedial work done on their car.
Will I pay a higher vehicle tax rate?
No. The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that UK taxpayers will not incur higher vehicle excise duty (VED) if their existing vehicles are found fitted with the defeat device software. Volkswagen UK has also said it will pay for any extra tax owners might incur if their vehicles are found to pollute more.
What does this mean for emissions and mpg testing, how will it look in the future?
There are already plans to adopt more stringent emissions and mpg tests in the EU. A World Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP) is scheduled to come into force in 2017, and will introduce a global set of emissions testing standards. The WLTP is developed to be more representative of real world driving conditions, with more dynamic braking, acceleration and speed times.
The WLTP will also feature a Real World Driving Emissions (RDE) test, which would consists of a real-world driving script for emissions tests. Cars will be hooked to machinery that records their emissions as they are driven on the road and feeds them to a computer.
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