Volkswagen pollution scandal, bigger, bigger and bigger

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Volkswagen’s Former CEO Could Get $30 Million Despite Huge Diesel Scandal

25 September 2015

If Volkswagen’s pollution emissions weren’t bad enough, the company will likely emit loads of cash to its CEO on his ride out the door. Martin Winterkorn, the CEO who announced his resignation this week, is eligible to receive at least $30 million in pension payouts from the Volkswagen Group with the possibility of receiving millions more in severance. Winterkorn stepped down amid the growing scandal around Volkswagen’s attempts to mislead consumers and regulators about how cleanly its cars burn fuel.

From the (Conservative) Daily Telegraph in Britain:

VW shares plunge as diesel emissions scandal spreads to petrol engines

Internal investigation finds another 800,000 vehicles showed ‘inconsistencies’

By Telegraph staff

8:30AM GMT 04 Nov 2015

Shares in Volkswagen plunged by 10pc after the German auto giant admitted the diesel emissions scandal had widened to include petrol engines.

The shares were the heaviest loser on the German blue-chip DAX 30 index after VW disclosed that an internal investigation had found “inconsistencies” on carbon emissions in cars.

Volkswagen said the probe had found that another 800,000 vehicles showed “irregularities” – this time related to carbon dioxide emissions.

The test-rigging scandal has so far focused on nitrogen oxide emissions in diesel cars, involving 11m vehicles worldwide. Most of the cars implicated have featured bigger engines, and included 3-litre and Porsche diesel cars, according to fresh allegations in the US on Monday. VW denied those claims.

Volkswagen shares slid by 10pc as trading in the car manufacturer reopened on Wednesday. Porsche’s shares also declined, falling by some 9.5pc.

Tuesday’s findings over carbon dioxide emissions, and petrol-fuelled cars, are understood to involve smaller 1.4-litre engines, mostly in the VW Polo and Golf, as well some Seat and Skoda cars, and the Audi A1 and A3.

A change in the CO2 emissions of the vehicles would also affect their fuel economy, VW admitted. “It was established that the CO2 levels and thus the fuel consumption figures for some models were set too low during the CO2 certification process,” the company said.

The company said it would “endeavour to clarify the further course of action as quickly as possible and ensure the correct CO2 classification for the vehicles affected” with the responsible authorities.

“The board of management of Volkswagen deeply regrets this situation and wishes to underscore its determination to systematically continue along the present path of clarification and transparency,” it added.

Close to 1.2m vehicles are affected in total in the UK with recalls of cars due to start in the first quarter of next year for remedial work.

Around 400,000 would need changes to their fuel injection systems as well as having the software removed.

VW UK has said 583,000 Volkswagen cars will be affected by the recall in the UK, along with 393,000 Audis, 132,000 Skodas and 77,000 Seats. Britain is the second worst affected country in Europe after Germany.

What has VW done?

The company has falsified emissions data on its diesel vehicles, pretending they were cleaner than they are

How exactly..?

By installing a piece of software into computers on its cars that recognise when the car is being tested – a so-called “defeat device”. This fine-tunes the engine’s performance to limit nitrogen oxide emissions. When used on the road, the emissions levels shoot back up

How widespread is the problem?

11m cars worldwide had the software installed; 1.2m of them were in the UK.

Which models are involved?

The allegations, which have been admitted by VW, cover the Jetta, Beetle, Audi A3 and Golf models from 2009 to 2015 and the Passat in 2014 and 2015. Audi, Seat and Skoda cars are also affected, as well as VW vans. Some diesel and petrol vehicles also have “irregularities” around carbon dioxide emissions.

What happens next?

VW has offered to fix affected models and expects to start the recall in January 2016. It is facing investigations in over a dozen countries as well as lawsuits from motorists.