VW has confirmed around 800,000 vehicles in Europe have ‘irregular’ CO2 emissions figures, a problem that could cost the manufacturer €2 billion euros.
The CO2 emissions rigging is thought to affect smaller engines used by Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW, including the 1.4-litre ‘cylinder-on-demand’ petrol and BlueMotion diesels.
In an official statement from the Volkswagen group, it said: “Under the ongoing review of all processes and workflows in connection with diesel engines it was established that the CO2 levels and thus the fuel consumption figures for some models were set too low during the CO2 certification process. The majority of the vehicles concerned have diesel engines.”
VW admitted it could only estimate how widespread the problem is, stating that ‘a reliable assessment of the scale of these irregularities is not yet possible’. It also described the situation as ‘not yet fully explained’.
VW CEO Matthias Muller added: “From the very start I have pushed hard for the relentless and comprehensive clarification of events. We will stop at nothing and nobody. This is a painful process, but it is our only alternative. For us, the only thing that counts is the truth. That is the basis for the fundamental realignment that Volkswagen needs.”
“The Board of Management of Volkswagen AG deeply regrets this situation and wishes to underscore its determination to systematically continue along the present path of clarification and transparency,” he added.
The German firm has pledged to ‘do everything in its power to clarify the further course of action as quickly as possible and ensure the correct CO2 classification for the vehicles affected’ and will ‘immediately start a dialog with the responsible type approval agencies regarding the consequences of these findings’.
Around 1.2 million VW vehicles in the UK have been affected by the ‘defeat device’, which allowed the manufacturer to cheat the testing software to make its cars look less polluting and better on fuel than they actually were.
The EU said it will adopt a test more akin to real-world conditions by as soon as 2017 to ensure customers are never misled to the same extent again.
The test body responsible for testing car emissions was recently accused of a conflict of interest after it was revealed 70 per cent of its income came from the companies it investigates.
If you are still interested in the whole debacle, Leonardo DiCaprio is said to have bought the film rights so it may become a film.
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