Volkswagen Group On Notice For Alleged Emissions Test Side Step

UPDATE: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has publicly apologised for the German automaker's alleged use of emissions test-cheating software. Click here for more.

Volkswagen has been accused of installing software in its new cars, designed to escape the watchful eye of environmental law-enforcers in the US.

It’s alleged the carmaker designed the software to detect and respond to official emissions testing in order to supply the lowest possible reading, before resorting to a ‘normal’ mode during regular driving.

Under normal mode, emissions are said to be up to 40 times higher than permissible levels.

The models in question were built and sold between 2009 and this year, and all of them are powered by diesel engines.

While some carmakers have chosen downsized turbocharged petrol engines or hybrid powerplants to bring their average fuel consumption down across their fleets, Volkswagen has championed the fuel-efficient diesel engine.

As a result, the German carmaker is now the biggest seller of diesels in the US market, and almost half a million cars are under the spotlight following the allegations.

Models in focus include the Passat, Beetle and Jetta, along with the Audi A3.

America’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called the software a “defeat device”. 

“These violations are very serious, not only because illegal defeat devices results in excess emissions many times the allowable standard, but also because Volkswagen was concealing the facts from EPA, the state of California and consumers,” EPA’s Cynthia Giles said, speaking with industry paper Automotive News.

“We expected better from Volkswagen.”

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