VW And Audi Admit All Diesels Sold Since 2009 Had Cheating Software

VW said that all Volkswagen and Audi vehicles with 3.0-liter diesel engines sold in the USA for the 2009 to 2016 model years come with this software – that’s about 85,000 vehicles in all.

The regulators said they will continue to investigate and take “all appropriate action”.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Air Resources Board revealed that Volkswagen, along with its majority-owned subsidiary Audi, admitted during a meeting on November 19 to installing “alternate exhaust control devices” in more vehicles. Exactly how many cars that represents is not yet clear. Earlier this month, the regulators accused VW of installing the so-called “defeat device” software on about 10,000 cars from the 2014 through 2016 model years, in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Earlier Friday, chief executive Matthias Mueller said Volkswagen is to cut investments by 1 billion euros (US$1.06 billion) next year, as the group scaled back spending to cope with the emissions scandal.

Steiner is expected to conduct talks with regulatory agencies in the US and other markets in regards to the higher nitrogen oxide emissions now believed to have been generated by VW AG cars, as well as the misstated Carbon dioxide figures involving another large group of vehicles.

Despite all the problems and scandal, Volkswagen is still holding on strong in the United States with dealers reporting that they are now low in stock.

Audi spokesman Brad Stertz acknowledged on Friday that the German automaker never intimated the EPA about the software. Stertz said the company wanted to reprogram the software “so that the regulators see it, understand it and approve it and feel comfortable with the way it’s performing”, AP reported. These “new entries” include a variety of models such as the Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg, and several Audi models (A6, A7, A8/A8L, Q5, and Q7).

The disclosure widened the scandal, which had previously focused mainly on smaller-engined, mass-market cars, and raised the possibility that engineers at both the Audi and VW brands could have been involved in separate emissions schemes. In the meeting, Audi told regulators the Q7 from years 2009-2012 had the same technology, she said. The automaker admitted that emission control equipment was integrated with its 3.0-liter diesel-powered cars dating back to 2009.

Volkswagen is offering owners of the 2-litre models $1,000 (U.S.) in compensation as a goodwill gesture to offset inconvenience, poorer emissions control and loss of resale value.