VW Shares tumble after US accuses them of falsifying emissions data

No retrospecitive tax hike for polluting vehicles with cheat software

Official Department for Transport, The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Vehicle Certification Agency announcement

UK taxpayers will not incur higher Vehicle Excise Duty if their existing vehicles are found to be fitted with illegal software that manipulates emissions tests.
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https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...ood-faith-will-not-incur-additional-tax-costs

Nothing about Benefits in Kind tax
 
We now know that about 400,000 Volkswagen cars in the UK with the 1.6L diesel engine will need fuel injectors altered as well as a software fix, its UK boss said. And the 800,000 2L diesel engine vehicles affected will need just a software fix. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34505593

At say £1,000 to replace 4 injectors (at cost) plus say £150 for the software fix then that's over £500m for the UK alone. Scale that up to the 11m vehicles affected and using the same ratio comes to over £4.5bn. Could well be more. Additionally we have fines, legal costs, compensation, and impact on sales. Profits for 2014 were £7.8bn. I hope VW survives.

My dream announcement by VW:

To regain customer trust, minimise regulatory penalties and protect jobs and the [German] economy, VW has negotiated EU and US government protection. In return, VW with next year relaunch an all electric A2 using the same body as the innovative A2 1.2L first launched in 2000.

Based on the prototype Lekker/DBM electric version of the A2 demonstrated in 2010, and with the latest battery technology, the electric A2 will achieve 500 miles (800 km) per charge. The vehicle will be priced as the original A2 at the same trim level (about £20,000). Existing VW diesel owners subject to the current recall will be eligible for a 25% discount.

Additionally, VW will install 250,000 fast charging points throughout the EU and USA. Owners of the new electric A2 will have free charging for life. By taking this innovative first step, the VW will seek to phase out all its diesel models by 2020.
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Dream on!
 
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Makes VAG's decision to scrap the all-electric Mk2 A2 a few years back now seem somewhat of a missed opportunity doesn't it? Their current attempts at a decent electric, or PHEV have been pretty poor so far. The e-Up is a good start, but they hardly promote that, let alone sell many, and the PHEV system in the Golf/ A3 e-Tron is flawed in both directions - the battery is not big enough to have a useful zero-emissions range, and the petrol engine is too big to make the electric assist anything but a "go faster at the traffic light grand prix" feature. Whilst at the same time it's based on a large platform not well-optimised for battery cars - it's extremely heavy and has barely any MPG benefit.
 
Knock on implications:
European policy-makers have agreed to a petition backed by many of its member governments to relax nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions limits for vehicles. This would see new diesel vehicles allowed to emit more than twice the current 80mpg/km NOx limit that came into effect with the Euro 6 engine regulations at the beginning of September this year.
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Source: http://www.nextgreencar.com/news/7320/european-body-agrees-to-relax-emissions-restrictions/ 29/10/15

Article goes onto say manufacturers are saying they find it difficult to meet the real driving emissions (RDE). No doubt it is a challenge, but in my mine this lobbying is not unexpected, though this petition interestingly come from governments - presumably those with large vehicle manufacturing companies; no names mentioned in the article but one can easily guess!

. This new proposal will allow new cars to emit 160mg/km of NOX until 2019, which is only 20mg/km NOx less than the Euro 5 limit that came into force in 2009. Even in 2021, new models will still be able to emit 120mg/km NOx without any legal reprisals for the manufacturers.
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Of course we now know that many current vehicles don't actually meet Euro 5 in real life.

Goes on to suggest that further petitions at a later date will try to delay lower emissions levels even more.
 
interesting that VW have also now admitted not hitting CO2. Then again, I suspect that this is part of a bigger plan, now, to push politicians towards understanding the real life implications of what's going on (which is why the nextgreencar article is not a surprise).

The "you faked it" on the bigger TDIs in the US is far more interesting. I'm figuring VW has drawn a line in the sand and is prepared to defend it, at which point the EPA will have their work cut out to prove the cheating (which they essentially can't). They're opening themselves to a larger fine on the 2.0 TDIs but are prepared to defend the 3.0s. I think this is a very good thing indeed.
On another note, Opel appears to also have over-the-limits engines, and PSA (Peugeot / Citroen) have published real life CO2 data which is very different from the datasheets.

This is the start. The manufacturers see an opportunity to "come cleaner" at this point and they'll point the finger quietly at the politicians for unrealistic data expectations, then life will get really interesting with massive numbers of employees, profits and taxes involved.

- Bret
 
Now a French company is potentially involved it will all get sorted out.... never underestimate the French Govt striving to protect its own........ Could do with this realism spreading to a few other areas of legislation the yoghurt knitters have imposed upon industry and consumers.
 
a2sumo said:
Yoghurt knitters - I like that. Made my day cheers.
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It is a funny term, isn't it!? I've seen Adrian use it before on the forum. I can only assume it's an alternative term for tree-hugging liberals who dare to have left-wing sympathies and/or believe that climate change is real. Or is it a synonym for being generally ineffectual? What's your definition, Adrian? :)

Tom
 
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Reading that seems the only affected engine is the 1.4 Turbo with cylinder deactivation technology (ACT)
 
It means either or both, adds up to the same result in my book! The only issue I agree with them is the climate is changing, but then again it has continually changed for a few million years or so, long before I started driving my car. Probably carry on changing for a few million more years too with or without wind turbines and PV's...... However looks like VAG just keeps digging themselves into a hole, albeit they are taking the flack for what I suspect is going on across the industry. Ford were fined in the US the other year for using false mpg data but no one seems to have noticed that...... Or is that because the US govt look after their own and keep it quiet?
 
A2's "creator" Ulrich Hackenberg steps down

Just stumble across this article of 4 December 2015 about Ulrich Hackenberg stepping down:

Hackenberg, 65, has been a senior figure in the VW Group's technical department for since he joined Audi in 1985. He was a major player in several key projects at the Ingolstadt brand and parent firm VW, including running Audi's concept department during the period when it released the A2 and TT, and helping the VW team that created the XL1 economy prototype.
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http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/vw-emissions-scandal-audi-tech-boss-ulrich-hackenberg-steps-9801

Article goes on to detailed the technical fixes which will be used to bring two of its EA189 diesel engines into line with current emissions standards.
 
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