According to the US authorities, Volkswagen would massively defrauded pollution controls in the United States. The case was revealed Friday by the US Environmental Agency (EPA). It could result in heavy financial penalties that can theoretically reach $ 18 billion. The title won 13% Monday at the opening of trading.
The German manufacturer has provided some 482,000 vehicles sold in the US (Audi A3, Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat) software can automatically detect when they were subjected to a test antipollution measure. Without the knowledge of drivers, an internal mechanism for limiting polluting gases while allowing the vehicle to pass the test without incident and be awarded a certificate of good ecological driving. Once the test finished, the anti-pollution mechanism and the vehicle désactivait freed while more polluting gases – to 40 times higher than the federal standards, according to Les Echos -, and in particular of nitrogen dioxide and NOx associated with severe respiratory diseases including asthma.
The hoax could have passed completely unnoticed without the perseverance of the International Council on Clean Transportation. This non-governmental organization based in the USA and Germany warned researchers at West Virginia University who after independent tests have uncovered strange differences between actual and reported gas emissions.
Volkswagen “regret”
Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn said “sorry” to have Sunday “disappointed” customers after the revelation of the EPA. He promised to cooperate with the US authorities “to establish the facts quickly and transparently.”
“Clearly: Volkswagen will not tolerate any violation of any kind of a law or standard,” stressed Winterkorn, promising that the group would do “everything to fully regain the trust that so many people (him) grant “and to” avoid “that damage being caused. “These events are for our directory, and for me personally, of paramount importance,” said the Volkswagen boss.
Volkswagen will remind his own expense all of these vehicles sold since 2008 and see its civil liability.
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