Volkswagen Emissions Scandal: Switzerland Bans Sale Of Selected auto Models

A report in the latest edition of AutoBild magazine says that during real world testing an all-wheel drive BMW X3 equipped with a turbo-diesel engine had emissions that were 11 times over the European limit. “No specific details of the test have yet been provided and therefore we can not explain these results”.

Add a more worrying fact: for virtually every new model that comes onto the market, the gap between test and real-world performance leaps. Matthias Müller, who’s now president of Porsche, will take over the top job at Volkswagen after Martin Winterkorn stepped down in the wake of the emissions scandal.

BMW said it’s not familiar with that road test and that there’s no system in its cars that responds differently to tests than it would operate on the road.

A company spokesman stated on Thursday that “We basically consider ourselves to fulfill the legal requirements and have not made any manipulations to our vehicles.” Being that the European Union has stricter emissions regulations than the USA and companies like BMW are meeting them by selling all of these diesel cars, you’d figure we’d wise up as a nation and get more diesels.

It has been said in hidden corners of the internet and amongst some more vocal press outlets but nobody even fathomed to think it was true.

During the past three years, Transport & Environment (T&E), with the support of the worldwide Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT – the organization that alerted United States authorities to its concerns over VW), has exposed several ways carmakers manipulate emissions tests in Europe for both air pollution and Carbon dioxide emissions. In a report released on September 10th, it suggested that a number of manufacturers use such devices, and questions the integrity of European emissions tests as a whole. When it’s all said and done, we may end up with an auto fleet that is far less efficient without diesel making a dent in miles per gallon quotes.

The Brazilian government wanted to find out whether the Volkswagen vehicles sold in Brazil also had the software.

The diesel-cheating affair that toppled Volkswagen AG’s chief executive officer deepened as Germany announced plans to widen its investigation and the scandal threatened to ensnare rival BMW AG.