VW Scandal Spreads To More Cars
Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller declared in late-October it was time to make the company "more fun to work for," then on that Saturday, the automaker said some gasoline cars -- not just the diesels that have so far been the focus of investigations -- had worse-than-reported emissions, sending its stock down. VW’s supervisory board issued a sharply worded statement saying it was "deeply concerned" and would meet soon to consult on "further measures and consequences."
Because CO2 can’t be filtered out like diesel emissions, "in a way it’s a bigger issue," Philippe Houchois, an analyst with UBS Group AG, said. "It seems like the board itself is getting into a higher level of emergency."
Volkswagen said an internal probe showed 800,000 cars had "unexplained inconsistencies" in their carbon-dioxide output, a key measure of fuel efficiency and the basis for taxation and emissions regulation in Europe. It’s unclear how much overlap there is between those vehicles and the 11 million the company had earlier said would need to be recalled. VW estimated the new finding means it will need to add at least 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to the 6.7 billion euros already set aside to repair dirty diesels.
The latest revelations step up the pressure on Mueller, who was appointed to steer the company through widening investigations into its cheating on emissions testing. The revelations came a day after VW rejected claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it had also cheated on emissions in vehicles made by Porsche -- the brand Mueller headed before taking over the top job.
In other news, Volkswagen took new steps to retain customers by offering them $1,000 in gift cards and vouchers. However, the "TDI Goodwill Program" will not be made available to commercial fleets, auto dealers who maintain the vehicle in their inventory, or retail buyers who sold the affected vehicle prior to November 9. It remains to be seen if these steps toward reconciliation will have the intended effect.
The latest issues affect Volkswagen’s Polo, Golf, and Passat models, Audi’s subcompact A1 and A3 hatchback, the Skoda Octavia, and the Seat Ibiza and Leon. The company said that while smaller diesel motors account for the vast majority of affected cars, a specific type of 1.4-liter gasoline engine is also involved. The number of those cars "is very limited," a VW spokesman said, and most of them are in Europe.