10:19 am, November 4, 2015
THE car emissions scandal has widened after Volkswagen admitted for the first time that petrol engines are also involved.
Volkswagen said in a statement that around 800,000 Group vehicles have been found to contain CO2 level ‘irregularities’. This could cost VW €2 billion (£1.4 billion), on top of the €6.7 billion already set aside for the crisis. Shares in the company fell a further 10 per cent following the admission.
This latest revelation has brought fresh controversy upon the firm, as previous allegations solely concerned nitrogen oxide levels in diesel cars. VW has confirmed that this issue involves both petrol and diesel models, including vehicles from the VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands.
In particular, VW has singled out cars with ‘smaller engines’ as being implicated, with reports suggesting that 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine powered vehicles are affected, as well as VW BlueMotion diesels.
This issue will drag millions more car owners into the crisis, and, as the problem concerns CO2 levels – and therefore fuel consumption figures – could alter the road tax on affected vehicles in the UK.
In its statement, VW admitted: ‘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.’
The careful wording of the statement acknowledges that the emissions scandal is no longer confined to diesel engines.
The statement added: ‘The board of management of Volkswagen AG will immediately start a dialogue with the responsible type approval agencies regarding the consequences of these findings.’
There has been no word from VW as to whether affected owners will be compensated.
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