Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation after US regulators found software the carmaker designed for diesel cars gave false emissions data, its chief executive said yesterday, adding he was “deeply sorry” for the violation of US rules.
“I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public,” Martin Winterkorn said in a statement published by the carmaker. “Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation of this matter.”
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday said that the software deceived regulators measuring toxic emissions, adding Volkswagen could face fines of up to US$18 billion as a result.
“We do not and will not tolerate violations of any kind of our internal rules or of the law,” Winterkorn said, adding the company was fully cooperating with the relevant agencies.
EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles on Friday said that the cars in question “contained software that turns off emissions controls when driving normally and turns them on when the car is undergoing an emissions test.”
The feature, which the EPA called a “defeat device,” masks the true emissions only during periodic state-run emissions testing and therefore when the cars are on the road they emit as much as 40 times the level of pollutants allowed under clean air rules meant to ensure public health is protected, Giles said.
The software was designed to conceal the cars’ emission of the pollutant nitrogen oxide, which contributes to the creation of ozone and smog. The pollutants are linked to a range of health problems.
EPA officials issued the car company a notice of violation. The recall involves 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009 to this year and involved about 482,000 cars.
Experts in automotive technology said that disengaging the pollution controls on a diesel-fueled car can yield better performance.
“When the pollution controls are functioning on these vehicles, there’s a trade-off between performance and emissions,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, a research group. “This is cutting corners.”
It was Kodjak’s group, in conducting research on diesel vehicles, that first noticed the discrepancy between Volkswagen’s emissions in testing laboratories and on the road. They brought the issue to the attention of the EPA, which conducted further tests on the cars, and ultimately discovered the use of the defeat device software.
The US Department of Justice’s investigation could ultimately result in fines or penalties of up to US$37,500 for each recalled vehicle, for a possible total penalty of as much as US$18 billion.
Additional reporting by NY Times News Service
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