Pollution test cheating software ‘on more models than thought’

Volkswagen (VW) has admitted there are more diesel vehicles that use defeat devices to circumvent emissions tests, the USA government has said.

US environmental regulators say that software allowing six-cylinder Volkswagen diesel engines to cheat on pollution tests is on more models than originally thought.

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

But on Thursday, the German automaker told the EPA and California Air Resources Board that the same software is on vehicles going back to the 2009 model year.

The agencies had previously accused VW of installing the software on about 10,000 cars from the 2014 through 2016 model years, in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The software is on Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg SUVs from the 2009 through 2016 model years, as well as the Porsche Cayenne from 2013 to 2016.

The fix for the 2-liter four-cylinder diesels in cars such as the Audi A3 and the VW Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat likely will include software changes and in a few models, complex and expensive modifications to the exhaust system. We reached out to VW for comment and are awaiting an official statement. Since their initial scandal regarding gas emissions, Volkswagen has been facing a lot of trouble regarding their diesel cars, and the company may even have to recall a number of their cars.

The widening scandal “slows VW’s ability to move beyond the negative headlines and start the rebuilding process”, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. The automaker added that it is “committed to making things right and regaining the trust of our valued customers”.

CARB and EPA plan another meeting with senior VW officials to discuss the issue in the first week of December. “We will strictly prioritize all planned investments… anything that is not absolutely necessary will be cancelled or postponed”.

The figure is around €1bn less than the budget for the previous year.

At 1248 GMT, VW shares were up 1.1% at €107.05.

General view of the Volkswagen power plant in Wolfsburg, Germany Sept 22, 2015.