Volkswagen Scandal Widens to $7.3B in Cost

The number of vehicles involved is more than the 10 million or so cars it sold in 2014.

So what: Late on Friday, the EPA said that VW models with the 2.0 liter TDI diesel engine have software that changes the emissions-control settings when it detects that the vehicle is having its emissions tested.

While the maker acknowledged the computer control systems on 11 million vehicles contain the code, it also claimed that the “majority of these engines the software does not have any effect”. 11 million vehicles, produced from 2009-2015, are affected. In two days, about a third of the company’s value has disappeared.

“Now it looks like it’s becoming a very global issue”.

The nitrous oxide emission standard for light vehicles as stated in the Clean Air Act-which also defines “defeat device”-is 0.4 grams per mile for the first five years or 50,000 miles”.

The company will likely issue some combination of monetary compensation and a recall notice to affected vehicle owners, says Jack Nerad, executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book.

The spiralling scandal has led to France calling for a Europe-wide probe into the revelations, South Korea summoning Volkswagen officials, and the US Justice Department reportedly launching a criminal investigation. “We will clear this up”. “For the sake of our consumers and the environment, we need certainty that the industry scrupulously respects emissions limits”.

A pollution scandal in the U.S.is growing into something much bigger.

Pledging to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the matter, Winterkorn said, “this can never happen again”, and promised customers the company would work hard to regain their trust. And he appealed to employees for their support. “We will do everything to regain your trust back, step for step”.

In the case of Volkswagen and their sister company Audi, cheating has proven to be extremely costly.

The group’s CEO Martin “Winterkorn has lost the confidence of the major shareholders”, it said.

A state senator is urging legislative hearings over the Volkswagen emissions scandal in Tennessee, the home of the German automakers lone US plant.

The California Air Resources Board’s testing uncovered software in several Volkswagen models that allowed the company to cheat state and federal emissions requirements by switching performance levels between testing and real-world conditions.