Volkswagen’s Emission Scandal Spreads to Europe
The Volkswagen scandal has spread all over Europe and the European Union (EU) has ordered investigations on all Volkswagen cars. Germany’s transport minister said that Volkswagen stands guilty of using “defeat services” across Europe, and this has led to Britain ordering a fresh check on the cars’ pollution level.
By Thursday night, all EU member states had called for fresh emission tests, and the government of Germany declared that the carmaker had cheated on emission tests not only in the US, but also in Europe.
Even BMW has not been spared, as the motoring press in Germany reported that its X3 off-roader pollutes the environment 11 times more than permitted. Although BMW denied this, investors panicked and dropped BMW stock, as a result of which the value of BMW shares plunged by 5%.
The British transport department revealed plans to re-test cars from different manufacturers to make sure other carmakers in the industry are not using “defeat devices.” British car drivers may also sue Volkswagen. Leigh Day, a British law firm, says that it is considering taking legal action against the car maker on behalf of consumers, demanding compensation for low resale value, increased fuel charges, and increased road tax owing to high levels of pollution.
Investors are also planning to sue the company. Volkwagen is also on the verge of announcing that Matthias Mueller, the chief of Porsche, will take over from Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday.
Elzbieta Bienkowska, the industry commissioner, said:
The European Commission calls on national authorities to look into the implications for vehicles sold in Europe and ensure that EU pollutant emission standards are scrupulously respected. We need to have the full picture whether and how many vehicles certified in the EU were equipped with defeat devices.
According to Alexander Dobrindt, the transport minister of Germany, Volkswagen used software programs called defeat devices to turn on an emission control system while a car is being emission tested, but not at the time of road use.
Volkswagen has admitted that 11 million of its cars all over the world have been fitted with the software program although the software is inactive in a majority of the cars. According to Dobrindt, Volkswagen cars with 2 liter and 1.6 liter diesel engines throughout Europe are “affected by the manipulations that are being talked about.”
He also said that the EU plans to device new tests that can done during road use instead of within laboratories.
