Volkswagen to investigate breach of U.S. environment rules

What does Volkswagen have to say about this? VW also faces fines. “We expected better from VW.”

The agency has not yet officially charged Volkswagen with any civil or criminal penalties, nor did it order any recalls of the affected vehicles.

Such software is defined as a “defeat device” by the Clean Air Act, a 1963 law aimed at controlling air pollution in the U.S.

“The Board of Management at Volkswagen AG takes these findings very seriously”, Winterkorn said in a statement, adding that the company will fully cooperate with responsible agencies. No details were available Sunday about how the firm’s external investigation would be conducted. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a notice to Volkswagen that it broke the law by using software to circumvent emissions testing.

Volkswagen said it’s cooperating with the investigation.

Since 2009, diesel vehicles have made up approximately 15 per cent of VW and Audi USA sales. The independent analysis came from researchers at West Virginia University, working with the global Council on Clean Transportation, a nongovernmental organization. Just previous year the EPA issued a record $300 million fine to Hyundai and Kia for misrepresenting their fuel economy.

But as the regulators pressed their inquiry, the EPA said, “none of the potential technical issues suggested by VW explained” the disparities.

The EPA has since withheld those certifications, which effectively blocks their sale.

The EPA is taking action on 2016 diesel models. And the automaker ordered an internal investigation. Here is the official statement that was released today. I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public.

Volkswagen admitted to investigators that it had installed the defeat device, the EPA said. “We will do everything necessary in order to reverse the damage this has caused”.

VW in North America has heavily marketed its vehicles as being “clean diesel”.

VW is barred from selling 2016 model vehicles with the 2.0 liter diesel engine until federal officials “get answers to the questions of how these vehicles are being operated”.

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.