Amid new accusations and statements that promise to expand Dieselgate's effects, the 'German giant' stance is different, for the better. The VW Group will assume the tax losses of the States with the emissions scandal.
Recapitulating the latest developments, we recall that the Volkswagen Group assumed that it deliberately manipulated the North American emissions tests in order to achieve the necessary homologation of the 2.0 TDI engine from the EA189 family. A fraud that affected 11 million engines and will force the recall of models equipped with this engine to bring them in line with current NOx emissions. That said, let's get to the news.new charges
The EPA, the US government agency for environmental protection, has again accused Volkswagen of using defeat devices, this time in 3.0 V6 TDI engines. Among the targeted models are the Volkswagen Touareg, the Audi A6, A7, A8, A8L and Q5, and for the first time the Porsche, which is dragged into the middle of the storm, with the Cayenne V6 TDI, which is also sold in the American market.
“Internal investigations (carried out by the group itself) have uncovered “inconsistencies” in CO2 emissions from over 800,000 engines”
Volkswagen has already gone public to refute such accusations, the group's statements imply, on the one hand, the legal compliance of the software for these engines, and on the other, the need for greater clarification regarding one of the functions of this software, which in the words of Volkswagen, was not adequately described during certification.
In this sense, Volkswagen claims that the various modes that the software allows, one protects the engine under certain circumstances, but that it does not alter emissions. As a preventive measure (until the accusations are clarified) the sale of models with this engine by Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche in the USA was, at the group's own initiative, suspended.
“We can't look at NEDC as a reliable indicator of actual consumption and emissions (because it's not…)”
The new management of the VW Group does not want to make the mistakes of the past, therefore, this action is in line with this new posture. Among other actions, within the VW Group an authentic internal audit is taking place, looking for signs of less correct practices. And as the saying goes, “whoever looks for it, finds it”.
One of those audits focused on the engine that succeeded the infamous EA189, the EA288. Engine available in 1.6 and 2 liter cylinders, initially only required to comply with EU5 and which was also on the list of suspects for deriving from the EA189. According to the findings of the investigation by Volkswagen, the EA288 engines have been definitively cleared of having such a device. But…
Internal Investigation Adds 800,000 Engines to Growing Scandal
… despite the EA288 having been cleared of the possible use of malicious software, the internal investigations (carried out by the group itself) have uncovered “inconsistencies” in the CO2 emissions of over 800 thousand engines, where not only the EA288 engines are. included, as a gasoline engine adds to the problem, namely the 1.4 TSI ACT, which allows the deactivation of two of the cylinders in certain circumstances to reduce consumption.
In a previous article about dieselgate, I clarified a whole mishmash of themes, and, correctly, we separated NOx emissions from CO2 emissions. The new known facts force, for the first time, to bring CO2 into the discussion. Why? Because the additional 800,000 engines affected do not have manipulator software, but Volkswagen declared that the announced CO2 values, and consequently, consumption, were set at a value below what they should have during the certification process.
But were the values announced for consumption and emissions to be taken seriously?
The European NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) homologation system is out of date – unchanged since 1997 – and has numerous gaps, opportunely taken advantage of by most manufacturers, generating increasing discrepancies between the announced consumption and CO2 emissions values and the actual values , however we must take this system into account.We cannot look to NEDC as a reliable indicator of actual consumption and emissions (because it is not…), but we should look to it as a solid basis for comparison between all cars, as they all respect the approval system, however defective whatever. Which brings us to Volkswagen's statements, where, despite NEDC's obvious limitations, it states that the advertised values are 10 to 15% lower than what should have been actually announced.
Matthias Müller Effect? Volkswagen assumes the tax losses arising from Dieselgate.
The initiative to announce, without delay, the disclosure of these new data, through the new president of Volkswagen, Matthias Müller, is to be welcomed. The process of implementing a new corporate culture of transparency and more decentralized will bring pain in the near future. But it's preferable that way.
This posture is better than sweeping everything “under the rug”, in a phase of exhaustive scrutiny of the entire group. A solution to this new problem has already been promised, of course, and an additional 2 billion euros have already been set aside to solve it.
"Matthias Müller, last Friday, sent a letter to the various finance ministers of the European Union to charge the Volkswagen group the difference between the missing amounts and not the consumers."
On the other hand, this new information has vast legal and economic implications that still need more time to be fully understood and clarified, with Volkswagen taking the initiative of a dialogue with the respective certification bodies. Will there be more surprises as the investigations progress?
With regard to economic implications, it is essential to mention that CO2 emissions are taxed, and as such, reflecting the lower emissions announced, the rates taxed on models with these engines are also lower. It is still too early to understand the full consequences, but compensation for the difference in taxable amounts in different European states is on the agenda.
Matthias Müller, last Friday, sent a letter to the various finance ministers of the European Union asking the States to charge the Volkswagen group the difference of the missing amounts and not the consumers.
In this regard, the German government, through its transport minister Alexander Dobrindt, had previously announced that it would retest and certify all the group's current models, namely Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda, to determine NOx and now also CO2, in light of the latest facts.
The procession is still in the forecourt and the Dieselgate's size and breadth is difficult to contemplate. Not only financially, but also in the future of the Volkswagen group as a whole. The repercussions are vast and will stretch over time, affecting the entire industry, where planned revisions to the future WLTP (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures) type approval test could make the task of meeting future emissions standards more difficult and costly to achieve. We'll see…