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Volkswagen emissions scandal

2010 VW Golf TDI displaying "Clean Diesel" at a U.S. auto show.
Date	2009–2015
Location	Worldwide
Type	Emissions violation
Cause	Engaging full emissions control only during testing
Participants	International Council on Clean Transportation, West Virginia University, Volkswagen Group, US EPA, other regulators
Footage	http://www.vwdieselinfo.com

On 18 September 2015 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation to German automaker Volkswagen Group, after determining that the company had equipped vehicles with turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines with software programming that enabled their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing. This caused emissions produced, and measured, during testing to be much lower than those produced during real-world driving—where the affected vehicles emitted up to 35 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides (NO_x). The offending programming was included in Volkswagen and Audi models between model years 2009 and 2015; it was included on an estimated eleven million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States.

These findings stemmed from a study on regional emissions discrepancies commissioned in 2014 by Dr. Vicente Franco, a Spanish industrial engineer and chief researcher for the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), which sought data from three different sources on 15 vehicles. Among the research groups led by Vicente Franco was a group of five scientists at West Virginia University, who detected a high level of emissions during live road tests on three diesel cars. ICCT also purchased data from two other sources. They provided their findings to the California Air Resources Board and the EPA in May 2014. The EPA classified this programming as a defeat device, which are illegal per the Clean Air Act.

The controversy has had an impact on Volkswagen's overall business. The company was subjected to legal proceedings, regulatory investigations, and class action lawsuits in multiple countries, and Volkswagen's stock prices experienced a major decrease in value. On 23 September 2015, Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned in response to the scandal, followed by the suspension of head of brand development Heinz-Jakob Neußer, Audi research and development head Ulrich Hackenberg, and Porsche research and development head Wolfgang Hatz. Volkswagen announced plans to spend US$7.3 billion on rectifying the emissions issues, and planned to refit the affected vehicles as part of a recall campaign. The scandal raised the awareness over the high levels of pollution being emitted by diesel vehicles built by a wide range of carmakers, which under normal driving conditions are prone to exceed legal emission limits for nitrogen oxide (NO_x). ICCT commissioned another study in 2015 conducted by ADAC center in Landsberg. The biggest deviations were from Volvo, Renault, Jeep, Hyundai, Citroen and Fiat.

Background

Starting with the 2009 Model year (some may date back to 2008 "electronically controlled common rail direct injection system with Bosch high pressure pump"), Volkswagen Group began migrating its light-duty passenger vehicle turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to a common-rail fuel injection system. This type of injection system allows for higher-precision fuel delivery through the use of electronically controlled fuel injectors and higher injection pressure, theoretically leading to better fuel atomization, better air/fuel ratio control, and by extension, better control of emissions.

With the addition of a diesel particulate filter to capture soot, and on some vehicle models, a urea-based exhaust aftertreatment system, the engines were touted by Volkswagen as being as clean as or cleaner than US and Californian requirements, while providing good performance and drivability.

Low emissions levels of Volkswagen vehicles enabled the company to receive green car subsidies and avail itself of tax exemptions in the US.

Early warnings

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre issued a report in 2013 warning that engine software could skew the results of exhaust readings. In its 2013 report it warned:

Sensors and electronic components in modern light-duty vehicles are capable of 'detecting' the start of an emissions test in the laboratory (e.g., based on acceleration sensors or not-driven/not-rotating wheels). Some vehicle functions may only be operational in the laboratory, if a predefined test mode is activated. Detecting emissions tests is problematic from the perspective of emissions legislation, because it may enable the use of defeat devices that activate, modulate, delay, or deactivate emissions control systems with the purpose of either enhancing the effectiveness of these systems during emissions testing or reducing the effectiveness of these systems under normal vehicle operation and use. While the use of defeat devices is generally prohibited, exceptions exist in cases where it is necessary to protect the engine against damage and to ensure safe vehicle operation (EC, 2007). These exceptions leave room for interpretation and provide scope, together with the currently applied test procedure, for tailoring the emissions performance

The European commission and European governments could not agree who is responsible to take action. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport received a report from the ICCT in October 2014 which stated there was a “real world nitrogen oxides compliance issue” with diesel passenger cars.

European discrepancies

The independent body International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) commissioned a study in 2014 and obtained data on 15 vehicles from three sources. John German, co-lead of the U.S. branch of ICCT, said the idea for the “very ordinary” test came from Peter Mock, managing director ICCT in Europe. German said they chose to put U.S. vehicles through on-the-road tests because their emissions regulations are much more stringent than in the European Union. The ICCT expected the cars to pass and thought they would be able to use the results to demonstrate to Europeans that it was possible to run diesels with cleaner emissions. The study found emissions discrepancies in the diesel VW Passat and VW Jetta, and no discrepancies in a BMW X5. They wanted to test a Mercedes as well, but did could not get one.

U.S. testing conducted

A group of scientists at West Virginia University submitted a proposal to ICCT and John German awarded them a US$50,000 study to conduct tests on three diesel cars: a VW Passat, a VW Jetta, and a BMW X5. ICCT also purchased data from Emissions Analytics, a UK-based emissions consultancy, and from stakeholders in the Real Driving Emissions-Light Duty Vehicle working group in charge of amending Euro 6 regulations.

Two professors and two students began testing tailpipe emissions from the three vehicles under actual road conditions in the spring of 2014. The three vehicles were all certified at a California Air Resources Board facility before the tests as falling below the emissions limits when using the standard laboratory testing protocols. They put 1,500 miles (2,400 km) on the Jetta and BMW. For their final test, they wanted to put even more mileage on the Passat, and drove it from Los Angeles to Seattle and back again, virtually the entire West Coast of the United States, over 2,000 miles (3,200 km). The BMW was "at or below the standard … with exception of rural-up/downhill driving conditions". But the researchers found that under real-world driving conditions the Jetta exceeded U.S. emissions limits "by a factor of 15 to 35" while the Passat exceeded the limit "by a factor of 5 to 20".

The emissions far exceeded legal limits set by both European and U.S. standards. One of the testers, Research Assistant Professor Arvind Thiruvengadam said, "... we did so much testing that we couldn't repeatedly be doing the same mistake again and again".

German said the deceit required more effort than merely adding some code to the engine software.

It's both writing the code, but you also need to do validation. So someone had to take these vehicles out, test them on the standard test cycle, make sure that the emission controls are supposed to be working when they're supposed to be working.

The U.S. test results confirmed the ICCT's findings in Europe. The West Virginia scientists didn't identify the defeat device, but reported their findings in a study they presented directly to the EPA and CARB in May 2014. Colorado's RapidScan real-world emissions test data reinforced the suspected abnormally high emissions levels.

Emission standards

The VW and Audi cars identified as violators had been certified to meet either the US EPA Tier 2 / Bin 5 emissions standard or the California LEV-II ULEV standard. Either standard requires that nitrogen oxide emissions not exceed 0.07 grams per mile (0.043 g/km) for engines at full useful life which is defined as either 120,000 miles (190,000 km) or 150,000 miles (240,000 km) depending on the vehicle and optional certification choices.

This standard for nitrogen oxide emissions is among the most stringent in the world. For comparison, the contemporary European standards known as Euro 5 (2008 "EU5 compliant", 2009–2014 models) and Euro 6 (2015 models) only limit nitrogen oxide emissions to 0.29 grams per mile (0.18 g/km) and 0.13 grams per mile (0.08 g/km) respectively.

EPA Notice of Violation

On 18 September 2015 the U.S. EPA served a Notice of Violation (NOV) on Volkswagen Group alleging that approximately 480,000 VW and Audi automobiles equipped with 2-litre TDI engines, and sold in the U.S. between 2009 and 2015, had an emissions-compliance "defeat device" installed. A Notice of Violation is a notification to the recipient that the EPA believes it has committed violations and is not a final determination of liability.

Volkswagen's "defeat device" is specially written engine management unit firmware that detects "the position of the steering wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of the engine's operation, and barometric pressure" when positioned on a dynamometer using the FTP-75 test schedule. These criteria very closely match the EPA's required emissions testing protocol which allowed the vehicle to comply with emissions regulations by properly activating all emissions control during testing. The EPA's NOV alleged that under normal driving conditions, the software suppressed the emissions controls, allowing the engine to produce more torque and get better fuel economy, at the expense of emitting up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides than allowed by law.

Volkswagen's response

Initial response

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Volkswagen had insisted for a year until the outbreak of the scandal that discrepancies were mere technical glitches. Volkswagen only fully acknowledged that they had manipulated the vehicle emission tests after being confronted with evidence regarding the "defeat device". Formal acknowledgement of the deception was made by Volkswagen executives in Germany and the United States to EPA and California officials during a 3 September conference call, during which Volkswagen executives discussed written materials provided to the participants demonstrating how Volkswagen's diesel engine software circumvented U.S. emissions tests.

I am shocked by the events of the past few days. I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group. As CEO I accept responsibility for the irregularities. I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part.

Volkswagen's CEO Martin Winterkorn said: "I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public." Winterkorn was in charge at Volkswagen from the start of 2008 to September 2015. He attributed the admitted wrongdoing to "the terrible mistakes of a few people". Winterkorn initially resisted calls to step down from his leadership role at VW, and then resigned as CEO on 23 September 2015.

Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn was more direct, saying, "We've totally screwed up." Horn added, "Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you." Olaf Lies, a Volkswagen board member and economy minister of Lower Saxony, later told the BBC that the people "who allowed this to happen, or who made the decision to install this software" acted criminally, and must be held personally accountable. He also said the board only found out about the problems "shortly before the media did", and expressed concerns over "why the board wasn't informed earlier about the problems when they were known about over a year ago in the United States".

Volkswagen announced that 11 million cars were involved in the falsified emission reports, and that over seven billion dollars would be earmarked to deal with the costs of rectifying the deceptive software at the heart of the fraudulent pollution statements. The newly appointed CEO of VW Mathias Müller stated that the software was only activated in a part of those 11 million cars, which has yet to be determined. The German tabloid Bild claimed that top management had been aware of the software's use to manipulate exhaust settings as early as 2007. Bosch provided the software for testing purposes and warned VW that it would be illegal to use the software to avoid emissions compliance during normal driving. Spiegel followed Bild with an article dated 30 September 2015 to state that this was known about, by some groups of people in 2005 or 2006. Süddeutsche Zeitung had similarly reported that Heinz-Jakob Neußer, one of VW's top executives, had ignored at least one engineer's warnings over "possibly illegal" practices in 2011.

On 28 September 2015 it was reported that VW had suspended Heinz-Jakob Neußer, head of brand development at its core VW brand, Ulrich Hackenberg, the head of research and development at its brand Audi who oversees technical development across the VW group, and Wolfgang Hatz, research and development chief at its sports-car brand Porsche who also heads engine and transmissions development of the VW group.

On the same day it was reported that in addition to the internal revision process to investigate the incidents, the supervisory board of VW hired American law firm Jones Day to carry out an independent, external investigation.

For the European market, VW has stated unequivocally that EA288-engined cars (which conform to Euro 6 standards) are not affected. In the US, the EPA included in its complaint 2015 TDI models (which all have EA288 engines), and VW have issued a stop-sale on new and certified-used 2015 and 2016 models. There has not been a statement from VWNA to the effect that its US-spec EA288 model are not affected, and in addition to the stop-sale, the US VW website had all references to 2015 or 2016 TDI model removed. It is unclear whether this discrepancy is an artifact of the EPA including 2015 models in its complaint, or whether it means that (regardless of what software European EA288 cars use) VW had its own measurements from normal driving conditions available and was thus quickly able to determine that the EA288 cars really do meet Euro6 and probably don't really meet the EPA requirements.

Vehicle repair and consequences

On 29 September 2015 Volkswagen announced plans to refit up to 11 million vehicles affected by the emissions violations scandal. The recall will affect models fitted with Volkswagen's EA 189 diesel engines, including 5 million at VW brand, 2.1 million at Audi, 1.2 million at Škoda and 1.8 million light commercial vehicles. SEAT said that 700,000 of its diesel models were affected. In Germany, 2.8 million vehicles will have to be recalled, followed by the UK, with 1.2 million. In France, 984,064 vehicles were affected, in Austria around 360,000, while in the Czech Republic 148,000 vehicles were involved (of which 101,000 were Škodas). In Portugal, VW said it had sold 94,400 vehicles with the rogue software. The repair may not require a formal recall; in the UK, for example, the company will simply offer to repair the cars free of charge; a recall is only required "when a defect is identified that... could result in serious injury”. As the rules violation involved enabling emission controls during testing, but turning it off under normal conditions to improve performance or fuel mileage, the necessary software update might make cars perform less efficiently and impair fuel economy. It is, however, unclear at this stage whether the repair will also include hardware modifications, such as selective catalytic reduction upgrades.

New orders

Volkswagen's Belgian importer, D'Ieteren, announced that it would offer free engine upgrades to 800 customers who had ordered a vehicle with a diesel engine that was likely to have been fitted with illegal software.

Sales of vehicles with EA 189 engines were halted in a growing number of European countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Consequences

Health consequences

This article needs attention from an expert in Environment or Chemistry. The specific problem is: Please clearly explain emissions characteristics of diesel engines vs gasoline, what NOx emissions are and are not, what are the health and environmental effects. What was unique about VW TDI diesel technology? What were the health and environmental effects, both perceived before this scandal and revealed after scandal broke?. WikiProject Environment or WikiProject Chemistry may be able to help recruit an expert. (September 2015)

Internal combustion engines emit oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which includes two pollutants regulated by the US EPA, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), as well as other compounds of nitrogen and oxygen such as nitrous oxide (N₂O). Diesel engines generally emit greater amounts of NO_x pollutants than gasoline (petrol) engines while emitting less carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (HC), due to their efficiency, as well as less carbon dioxide (CO₂) greenhouse gas because of their better fuel economy.

NOx are not greenhouse gases, but are regulated as a pollutant due to their attacking the human respiratory tract, their contribution to acid rain, and to formation of a visible brown cloud or smog due to both the visible nature of NO₂, and the tropospheric ozone created by NO.

NO₂ itself directly causes severe respiratory problems "including asthma attacks, other respiratory diseases and premature death". NO₂ is also a precursor to unhealthy ground-level ozone. The majority of tropospheric ozone formation occurs when ozone precursors, primarily nitrogen oxides (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), react in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight.

Polluting models released into the market since 2009 include the Audi A3 as well as the Volkswagen Jetta, the new Beetle, Golf, and Passat. Up to 11 million vehicles that emit dangerous levels of NO_x were sold under the various brands of the Volkswagen group (Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT...). The overwhelming majority of these – up to 10 million—were sold in Europe. 20% of European city dwellers are exposed to unhealthy levels of nitrogen dioxide and Volkswagen's large market share of the diesel vehicle market is one cause. In London, where diesel road traffic is responsible for 40% of NO_x emissions, air pollution causes more than 3,000 deaths a year. In this context, a Channel 4 documentary in January 2015 referred to the UK government subsidising the diesel industry as the “great car con”, with Barry Gardiner MP, former member of the Blair government, admitting the policy, which lowered CO₂ emissions yet increased harmful NOx pollution, was a mistake.

Legal and financial repercussions

Government actions

• Canada: Environment Canada has announced that it has initiated proceedings to evaluate if "defeat devices" were installed in Volkswagen vehicles to bypass emission control tests in Canada.
• European Union: Government regulatory agencies and investigators have initiated proceedings in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Several countries have called for a Europe-wide investigation.
• Germany: German prosecutors have launched an investigation against former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn. Winterkorn had resigned over the scandal, saying he had no knowledge of the manipulation of emissions results. A German prosecutor later clarified the status of these inquiries, saying it was looking into allegations of fraud from unidentified individuals, but that Winterkorn was not under formal investigation.
• India: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has been instructed by the Indian government to investigate if vehicles from Volkswagen had circumvented Indian laws and regulations on vehicle emission testing. Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary at the Ministry of Heavy Industry, said: "ARAI has been asked to submit its report within a week." The Indian Foundation of Transport, Research and Training (IFTRT) has demanded a probe into Volkswagen's Confirmation of Production process for vehicles sold in India. Government of India has extended the deadline for the submission of the test results to the end of October 2015 (after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India starting from 4 October 2015).
• Netherlands: Netherlands has spent billions of Euros on subsidies in energy-efficient cars in the recent years. Jesse Klaver from the political party GroenLinks responded that the Netherlands must claim back money from the car manufacturers if it emerges that they have also committed fraud in the Netherlands.
• Romania: The Romanian Automotive Register (RAR) stopped issuing registration documents for VW vehicles equipped with Euro 5 diesel engines.
• South Africa: The departments of Environmental Affairs and Transport as well as the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications say they need to determine whether local cars have been affected by the rigging of US vehicle emissions tests.
• South Korea: Authorities in South Korea announced pollution control investigations into cars manufactured by Volkswagen and other European car-manufacturers. Park Pan-kyu, a deputy director at South Korea's environment ministry said: "If South Korean authorities find problems in the VW diesel cars, the probe could be expanded to all German diesel cars".
• Sweden: Sweden's chief prosecutor is considering starting a preliminary investigation into Volkswagen's emissions violations.
• Switzerland: Switzerland has banned sales of Volkswagen diesel cars, marking the most severe step taken so far by a government in reaction to the emissions crisis.
• United Kingdom: The Department of Transport announced on 24 September that it would begin re-testing cars from a variety of manufacturers to ensure the use of "defeat devices" is not industry wide.
• United States: The EPA announced that should the allegations be proven, Volkswagen Group could face fines of up to US$37,500 per vehicle (approximately US$18 billion in total). VW suspended sales of TDI-equipped cars in the US on 20 September 2015. In addition to possible civil fines, media reports state that the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division is conducting a criminal probe of Volkswagen AG's conduct. The United States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has announced that it would hold a hearing into the Volkswagen scandal. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that his investigation was already underway and warned: "No company should be allowed to evade our environmental laws or promise consumers a fake bill of goods".

Private actions

By 27 September 2015 at least 34 class-action lawsuits had been filed in the U.S. and Canada on behalf of Volkswagen and Audi owners, claiming fraud and breach of contract, positing the "diminished value" of diesels that will be fixed to conform with pollution regulations, due to expected reductions in horsepower and fuel efficiency. According to Reuters, one reason class action lawyers were able to mobilize so fast is that the company's marketing to upscale professionals, including jurists, had backfired.

Market impact

Over one quarter of VW's sales in the U.S. are diesel-powered vehicles. The corporation has chosen a market strategy that emphasizes clean diesel over electric cars or hybrid electric vehicles.

The vehicles affected by the recall in the U.S. include the following model years:

• 2009–2015 Audi A3 2.0 L TDI
• 2009–2015 VW Beetle 2.0 L TDI
• 2009–2015 Beetle Convertible 2.0 L TDI
• 2009–2015 VW Golf 2.0 L TDI
• 2015 VW Golf Sportwagen 2.0 L TDI
• 2009–2015 VW Jetta 2.0 L TDI
• 2009-2014 Jetta Sportwagen 2.0 L TDI
• 2012–2015 VW Passat 2.0 L TDI.

Volkswagen has also stated that 11 million vehicles sold worldwide are affected in addition to the 480,000 vehicles with 2.0 L TDI engines sold in the US. According to Volkswagen, vehicles sold in other countries with the 1.6 L and 2.0 L 4-cylinder TDI engine known as Type EA189 are also affected. This software is also said to affect EA188 and the 2015 EA288 generation of the four-cylinder. Worldwide, around 1.2 million Skodas and 2.1 million Audis may contain the software, including TTs and Qs. VW states that Euro6 model in Germany are not affected, while 2015 US models with the same EA288 engines are affected. This suggests that normal-operation measurements that place the EA288 NOx emissions between the two standards' limits were readily available at VW headquarters in Germany.

Stock value

On 21 September 2015 the first day of trading after the EPA's Notice of Violation to Volkswagen became public, share prices of Volkswagen AG plunged 20% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. On 22 September, the stock fell another 12% for a 2-day cumulative decline of 32%. On 23 September, the stock quickly fell 10.5%, dropping through the €100 barrier to a record 4-year low before regaining some lost ground. Share prices of other German automakers were also affected, with BMW down 4.9% and Daimler down 5.8%.

Qatar, one of the biggest VW shareholders with a 17% stake in the company, lost nearly $5 billion as the company stock value plunged.

Brand equity and media exposure

The Volkswagen TDI emissions controversy has received widespread negative media exposure, with headlines fronting the websites of multiple news gathering and reporting organizations.

Media outlets have called the event "Dieselgate" in reference to previous controversies.

Reuters opined that the crisis at Volkswagen was a bigger threat to the German economy than the consequences of the 2015 Greek sovereign debt default.

Deutsche Welle, one of Germany's state broadcasters, opined that a "lawsuit tsunami" was headed for Volkswagen and that the scandal had dealt a blow to the country's psyche and "Made in Germany" brand.

Popular Mechanics stated that the scandal "is much worse than a recall", highlighting that Volkswagen had engaged in a pattern of "cynical deceit".

Despite the scandal, one poll conducted for Bild suggested that the majority of Germans (55%) still have “great faith” in Volkswagen, with over three-quarters believing that other carmakers are equally guilty of manipulation. Another research into customers' reactions to the scandal suggested that the VW brand has nonetheless been significantly weakened, and may now be perceived in Germany as "no better than Smart", the small-car brand owned by Daimler.

Reactions

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated she hoped that all facts in the matter would be made known promptly, urging "complete transparency". She additionally noted that Germany's Transport Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, was in ongoing communication with Volkswagen.

Michel Sapin, the French Finance Minister, called for an investigation of diesel-powered cars that would encompass the entire continent of Europe.

All major car manufacturers, including Toyota, GM, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Daimler (Mercedes Benz), and Honda, issued press statements reaffirming their vehicles' compliance with all regulations and legislation for the markets in which they operate; The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders described the issue as affecting "just one company", with "no evidence to suggest that any other company is involved, let alone that this is an industry-wide issue".

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said it would be difficult for an automaker to conceal internally an effort to falsify vehicle emissions data, such as has happened at Volkswagen AG: "I don't think you can do something like this hiding in the bushes".

Jim Holder, the editorial director of Haymarket Automotive, which publishes WhatCar and AutoCar, opined that there had never been a scandal in the automotive industry of this size.

A Spiegel commentary cast doubt on German manufacturers' chances to survive the international competition "when there is now serious doubts about their basic competence, and the reliability of the German engineering they like to trumpet overseas. That its trustworthiness is gone, its reputation ruined, will damage not only Volkswagen but will take its toll on the entire sector and indeed Germany's entire industry".

Alan Brown, chairman of the Volkswagen National Dealer Advisory Council, said that "the diesel scandal has hit the dealers in the U.S. extremely hard", in a context where they already had been "suffering from an outdated product cycle, overpriced product and a deteriorating relationship between the dealer body and Volkswagen for a number of years”. Car and Driver similarly noted how "the apparent disregard for the American consumer sheds a bright light on VW's inability to understand the world's biggest market, one in which their share is a fraction of their major competitors", while also suggesting that VW had "grossly underestimated the EPA's power and inexplicably failed to go public before the story broke, despite having ample warning".

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk was asked about his opinion whether the scandal will weaken the consumer's view on green technologies; he responded saying he expects the opposite to happen: “What Volkswagen is really showing is that we've reached the limit of what's possible with diesel and gasoline. The time has come to move to a new generation of technology.”

Similarly, analysts at Fitch suggested the VW diesel emissions crisis was likely to affect the entire automotive industry, with petrol cars potentially enjoying a revival in Europe and greater investment being poured into electric vehicles. Other commentators argued that the diesel engine will nevertheless regain its footing in the market: "it's simply indispensable around the globe — and not just to comply with CO₂ emissions. And it will remain strong in the U.S., too, at least in the pickup- and commercial-truck segments."

On 29 September 2015, S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM stated that Volkswagen AG's stock will be de-listed from the Dow Jones Sustainability indexes after close of trading on 5 October 2015. Among the reasons for the de-listing, the statement issued by RobecoSAM cited social and ethical reasons: "In VW's case, the DJSIC reviewed the situation and ultimately decided to remove the Company from the DJSI World, the DJSI Europe, and all other DJSI indices. The stock will be removed after the close of trading in Frankfurt on 5 October 2015, thus making the removal effective on 6 October 2015. As a result, VW will no longer be identified as an Industry Group Leader in the “Automobiles & Components” industry group."

The VW scandal more generally raised awareness over the high levels of pollution being emitted by diesel vehicles built by a wide range of carmakers, including Volvo, Renault, Mercedes, Jeep, Hyundai, Citroen, BMW, Mazda, Fiat, Ford and Peugeot. Independent tests carried out by ADAC proved that, under normal driving conditions, diesel vehicles including the Volvo S60, Renault's Espace Energy and the Jeep Renegade, exceeded legal European emission limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) by more than 10 times. Researchers have criticized the inadequacy of current regulations and called for the use of a UN-sanctioned test that better reflects real-life driving conditions. The test is not due to come into force until 2017, with critics saying that car firms have lobbied fiercely to delay its implementation due to the high cost of meeting stricter environmental controls.

Previous defeat device cases

The Volkswagen TDI diesel emissions case is not the first use of defeat devices, nor the first time automakers have taken advantage of their foreknowledge of the specific lab test conditions in order to engage emissions controls only during testing, but not during normal driving.

In 1973 Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen had to remove ambient temperature switches which affected emissions, though the companies denied intentional cheating and said that strategies like enriching fuel mixture during cold engine warm-up periods could reduce overall pollution. The switches were ordered removed from production but cars already on the road did not have to be recalled, and fines were relatively modest.

In 1996 General Motors had to pay a near-record fine of $11 million, and recall 470,000 vehicles, because of ECU software programmed to disengage emissions controls during conditions known to exist when the cars were not being lab tested by the EPA. The model year 1991–1995 Cadillacs were programmed to simply enrich the engine's fuel mixture, increasing carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) pollution, any time the car's air conditioning or heater was turned on, since the testing protocol specified they would be off.

Also in 1998, Ford Motor Company paid $7.8 million for programming 60,000 1997 Ford Econoline vans to keep emissions low during the 20-minute EPA test routine, and then disabling the emissions controls during normal highway cruising.

Another timer-based strategy was used by seven heavy truck manufacturers, Caterpillar, Cummins Engine Company, Detroit Diesel Corporation, Mack Trucks, Navistar International, Renault Vehicules Industriels, and Volvo Trucks, who in 1998 paid the largest ever fine to date, $83.4 million, for, in the same manner as Volkswagen, programming trucks to keep NO_x emissions low during the test cycle, and then disabling the controls and emitting up to three times the maximum during normal highway driving.

The goal of both the Ford and the heavy truck defeat devices was better fuel economy than could be achieved under pollution limits. The major truck manufacturers also had to spend up to $1 billion to correct the problem, which affected 1.3 million heavy duty diesel trucks.

While Volkswagen's actions have significant precedents, the Center for Auto Safety's Clarence Ditlow said Volkswagen "took it to another level of sophisticated deception we've never seen before."

See also

• Cars
• Germany
• Companies
• Criminal justice
• Environment
• 2010s

• Diesel exhaust
• Exhaust gas recirculation
• FTP-75
• NOx adsorber – a system to trap oxides of nitrogen used by Volkswagen Clean Diesel cars
• Spread-spectrum clocking – a computer firmware setting used to comply with RF emissions testing but may be turned off afterwards
• Vehicle regulation

References

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4. ^ http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/common/pdf/brochures/old-brochure/Passat-Estate/Passat-Estate-July-2009.pdf
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Further reading

• Plungis, Jeff; Hull, Dana (20 September 2015). "VW's Emissions Cheating Found by Curious Clean-Air Group". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
• "Volkswagen diesel scandal: What you need to know", Chicago Tribune, 22 September 2015
• Coetzee, Dawie (29 September 2015). "Dieselgate: Why Volkswagen Will Come Out Smelling Like Roses". The Costa Rica News.

External links

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• EPA Notices of Violation FAQ
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