Volkswagen Diesel Scandal EXPLANATION - DIESELGATE 2015
It's been dubbed the toy diesel In September, the EPA Environmental Protection Agency has found that many VW cars sold in America had a defeat device - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they been tested, performance changes accordingly to improve results the German auto giant has since admitted cheating emissions tests in the United States.
VW has had a major boost sales of diesel cars in the US, supported by an extensive marketing campaign trumpeting its low emission cars in the United States the results relate to the EPA 482,000 cars only, including Audi A3 manufactured VW and VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat But VW has admitted that nearly 11 million cars worldwide, including eight million in Europe, are equipped with the device of defeat so-called .
The company was also accused by the EPA of the software modification on the 3-liter diesel engines powering a Porsche and Audi and VW models VW denied the allegations affecting at least 10,000 vehicles.
In November, VW said it had found irregularities in tests to measure levels of carbon dioxide emissions that could affect 800,000 cars in Europe - including gasoline vehicles However, in December, he said that following the investigations, it was established that it affected 36,000 of the cars it produces each year.
This defeat device sounds like a sophisticated piece of kit.
All the details of how he worked are sketchy, although the EPA has said that the engines had a computer program that could detect test cases by controlling the speed, the engine operation, the pressure air and even the position of the steering wheel.
When cars were operating in controlled laboratory conditions - which typically involve putting them on a stationary test bench - the unit seems to have put the vehicle into a kind of safe mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance on the road, the engines put out this test mode.
The result The emitted polluting engines nitrogen oxide by up to 40 times higher than what is allowed in the United States.
We screwed up, said the boss of VW America Michael Horn, while the group CEO at the time, Martin Winterkorn, said his company had broken the trust of our customers and M. Winterkorn resigned public as a direct result the scandal and was replaced by Matthias Mueller, the former head of Porsche.
My most urgent task is to regain the confidence of the Volkswagen Group - leaving no stone unturned, M. Mueller said taking his new position.
With VW recalling millions of cars in the world next year, he has set aside 6 4 7 billion 8 billion to cover the costs that have resulted in the company posting its first quarterly loss in 15 years 2 5 billion in late October.
But it is unlikely at the end of the financial impact The EPA has the power to impose a fine of up to 37,500 company for each vehicle that violations of standards - a fine of about $ 18 billion.
The costs of legal action possible by car owners and shareholders can not be estimated at present, VW added.
Image copyright AFP Legend of the image of the position of Martin Winterkorn became untenable after losing the support of key shareholders.
What started in the US spread to a growing number of countries, the UK, Italy, France, South Korea, Canada and, of course, Germany, have opened investigations around the world, politicians, regulators and environmental groups are questioning the legitimacy of VW's emission testing.
VW will remember May 8 million cars in Europe, including 2 4 million in Germany and 1 to 2 million in the UK, and 500,000 in the United States due to the emissions scandal.
No wonder the automaker shares have fallen by about a third since the scandal broke.
It is still unclear who knew what and when, although VW must have a management chain of command that approved mounting cheating devices to its engines, so other departures are likely.
Christian Klingler, Member of the Board and responsible for sales and marketing is leaving the company, although VW said it was part of the planned structural changes in the long term and has not been linked to recent events.
In 2014, the United States, regulators have expressed concern about the levels of VW emissions, but these were rejected by the company as technical issues and unexpected field conditions If leaders and managers deliberately misled officials or their own superiors VW, it is difficult to see them survive.
That s for various regulatory and governmental investigations to determine Air Resources Board of California is now looking for other manufacturers test results Ford, BMW and Renault-Nissan reported no use of defeat devices, while others companies have either not commented or simply said that they comply with the law.
The body of the trade in the UK for the automotive industry, the SMMT said the EU has a fundamentally different system to the United States - with all European tests under strict conditions required by European legislation and in the presence of an independent approval body appointed by the government.
But he said the industry recognizes that the current test method is obsolete and requested the agreement of the European Commission for a new emissions test which includes new testing technologies and is more representative of driving conditions.
Copyright AP Image Image Caption Buyers may start wondering if they can believe Claims automakers for emission levels.
This looks like the EU control rules need tightening too.
Environmental activists have long argued that the rules are flouted emission diesel cars in Europe operate with the worst average technology that the United States, said Jos Dings of the pressure group Transport Environment Our latest report shows that nearly 90 diesel vehicles didn t comply with the emission limits when they drive on the road, we're talking millions of vehicles.
Analysts cars to financial research firm Bernstein agree that European standards are not as strict as those in the US However, analysts in a report that there was thus less need to cheat So if other European carmakers results are suspect, Bernstein said that the consequences could be a change in the test cycle rather than prosecution and fines.
Certainly is Over the last decade and more, automakers have paid a fortune in the production of diesel vehicles - with the support of many governments - believe they are better, and there are environmental Last evidence suggests that is not the same case 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 drop in demand for diesel cars, said Richard Gane, automotive expert at Vendigital consultants.
In the US, the diesel car market is currently about 1 in sales of new cars and this should not increase in the short to medium term.
However, in Europe the impact could be much higher, which leads to a large slice of the market switch to gasoline engine cars of the day after.
The Volkswagen scandal told BBC News, volkswagen, scandal, cars, including Europe, copyright Image Caption.