It's
been dubbed the "diesel dupe". The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had devices in
diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing
the performance accordingly to improve results. The German car giant has
since admitted cheating emissions tests in the US.
VW
has had a major push to sell diesel cars in the US, backed by a huge
marketing campaign trumpeting its cars' low emissions. The EPA's
findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the
VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and
Passat. But VW has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide,
including eight million in Europe, are fitted with the so-called "defeat
device".
The device sounds like a sophisticated piece of kit.
Full
details of how it worked are sketchy, although the EPA has said that
the engines had computer software that could sense test scenarios by
monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and even the position
of the steering wheel.
When the cars were operating
under controlled laboratory conditions - which typically involve putting
them on a stationary test rig - the device appears to have put the
vehicle into a sort of safety mode in which the engine ran below normal
power and performance. Once on the road, the engines switched out of
this test mode.
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The result? The engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.
Image copyrightReuters
What has been VW's response?
"We've
totally screwed up," said VW America boss Michael Horn, while the
group's chief executive at the time, Martin Winterkorn, said his company
had "broken the trust of our customers and the public". Mr Winterkorn
has now left the company as a direct result of the scandal and has been
replaced by Matthias Mueller, the former boss of Porsche.
"My
most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group - by
leaving no stone unturned," Mr Mueller said on taking up his new post.
VW has also launched an internal inquiry.
With
VW recalling almost 500,000 cars in the US alone, it has set aside
€6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs. The carmaker has said it will begin
recalling cars in January.
But that's unlikely to be the end of
the financial impact. The EPA has the power to fine a company up to
$37,500 for each vehicle that breaches standards - a maximum fine of
about $18bn.
Legal action from consumers and shareholders may
follow, and there is speculation that the US Justice Department will
launch a criminal probe. Then, or course, there is the cost of fixing
all the cars.
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Volkswagen denied reports that chief executive
Martin Winterkorn was leaving, but his position became untenable after
he lost the support of key shareholders
How widespread are VW's problems?
What
started in the US has spread to a growing number of countries. The UK,
Italy, France, South Korea, Canada and, of course, Germany, are opening
investigations. Throughout the world, politicians, regulators and
environmental groups are questioning the legitimacy of VW's emissions
testing. France's finance minister Michel Sapin said a "Europe-wide"
probe was needed in order to "reassure" the public.
At this time,
only cars in the US named by the EPA are being recalled, so owners
elsewhere need take no action. However, with about 11 million VW diesel
cars potentially affected - 2.8 million cars in Germany itself - further
costly recalls and refits are likely. Half of the company's sales in
Europe - VW's biggest market - are for diesel cars. No wonder the
carmaker's shares are down 30% since the scandal broke - with other
carmakers also seeing big falls in their stock prices.
Will more heads roll?
It's
still unclear who knew what and when, although VW must have had a chain
of management command that approved fitting cheating devices to its
engines, so further departures are likely.
Christian Klingler, a
management board member and head of sales and marketing is leaving the
company, although VW said this was part of long-term planned structural
changes and was not related to recent events.
In 2014, in the US,
regulators raised concerns about VW emissions levels, but these were
dismissed by the company as "technical issues" and "unexpected"
real-world conditions. If executives and managers wilfully misled
officials (or their own VW superiors) it's difficult to see them
surviving.
Are other carmakers implicated?
That's
for the various regulatory and government inquiries to determine.
California's Air Resources Board is now looking into other
manufacturers' testing results. Ford, BMW and Renault-Nissan have said
they did not use "defeat devices", while other firms have either not
commented or simply stated that they comply with the law.
The UK
trade body for the car industry, the SMMT, said: "The EU operates a
fundamentally different system to the US - with all European tests
performed in strict conditions as required by EU law and witnessed by a
government-appointed independent approval agency."
But it added:
"The industry acknowledges that the current test method is outdated and
is seeking agreement from the European Commission for a new emissions
test that embraces new testing technologies and is more representative
of on-road conditions."
Image copyrightAPImage caption
Buyers may start to wonder if they can believe carmakers' claims for emissions levels
That sounds like EU testing rules need tightening, too.
Environmental
campaigners have long argued that emissions rules are being flouted.
"Diesel cars in Europe operate with worse technology on average than the
US," said Jos Dings, from the pressure group Transport &
Environment. "Our latest report demonstrated that almost 90% of diesel
vehicles didn't meet emission limits when they drive on the road. We are
talking millions of vehicles."
Car analysts at the financial
research firm Bernstein agree that European standards are not as strict
as those in the US. However, the analysts said in a report that there
was, therefore, "less need to cheat". So, if other European carmakers'
results are suspect, Bernstein says the "consequences are likely to be a
change in the test cycle rather than legal action and fines".
It's all another blow for the diesel market.
Certainly
is. Over the past decade and more, carmakers have poured a fortune into
the production of diesel vehicles - with the support of many
governments - believing that they are better for the environment. Latest
scientific evidence suggests that's not the case, and there are even
moves to limit diesel cars in some cities.
Diesel sales were
already slowing, so the VW scandal came at a bad time. "The revelations
are likely to lead to a sharp fall in demand for diesel engine cars,"
said Richard Gane, automotive expert at consultants Vendigital.
"In
the US, the diesel car market currently represents around 1% of all new
car sales and this is unlikely to increase in the short to medium term.
"However, in Europe the impact could be much more significant,
leading to a large tranche of the market switching to petrol engine cars
virtually overnight."
.