News

Tough regulations on their way to crack down on emissions cheats

Advert

Time 3:11 pm, June 7, 2018

CARMAKERS will face heavy fines if they supply the UK with vehicles designed to cheat emissions tests, the government announced today.

Under tough new regulations, manufacturers could be forced to pay up to £50,000 for each new vehicle found to be fitted with a so-called ‘defeat device’.

The rules have been brought in following a government consultation that it said saw overwhelming support for measures to crack down on emissions cheats.


It comes following the publication of the government’s Clean Air Strategy, which set out a range of measures to tackle air pollution. And the government will outline further steps as part of its Road to Zero Strategy, which will set out how the UK will transition to zero emission vehicles.

Transport minister Jesse Norman said: ‘There has rightly been a huge public outcry against car manufacturers that have been cheating on emissions standards. Their behaviour has been dishonest and deplorable.

‘These tough new regulations are designed to ensure that those who cheat will be held to proper account in this country, legally and financially, for their actions.’


The Road Vehicles (Defeat Device, Fuel Consumption and Type Approval) Regulations 2018 will be laid in Parliament before coming into force on July 1, 2018.

The announcement comes alongside the government’s commitment to end the sale of conventional new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040 and follows the publication of the UK’s air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) last year.

Following revelations in 2015 that Volkswagen had been using software that caused its car engines to behave differently during emissions tests, the Department for Transport tested a range of the most popular diesel vehicles in the UK. It said this found that no other manufacturer tested was using a similar strategy to Volkswagen.

Volkswagen reimbursed the British taxpayer £1.1 million for the costs of the programme.

MORE: Volkswagen emissions scandal claims gear up at High Court

MORE: Prosecutors raid BMW HQ in emissions investigation

MORE: VW faces billions in fines in USA over emissions scandal

On WorkshopMagazine.co.uk: Mechanics advertising emissions filter removal service given MOT testing bans

Car Dealer Magazine's avatar

Car Dealer has been covering the motor trade since 2008 as both a print and digital publication. In 2020 the title went fully digital and now provides daily motoring updates on this website for the car industry. A digital magazine is published once a month.



More stories...

Advert
Server 108