Volkswagen Group has announced they will be recalling 500,000 diesel cars that used software to falsify emissions test results.
The automaker will also stop selling both new and used 2015 and 2016 models that were equipped with the 4-cylinder "clean diesel" engine.
Speaking to the New York Times, Martin Winterkorn apologized for the company's antics.
“I am personally deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public,” he said in a statement, adding that the company would “fully cooperate” with both federal and independent investigations."
Late last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated the company had violated the Clean Air Act by intentionally installing software to evade pollution regulations.
The vehicles in question will only activate their full emissions control system only if they're plugged into an emissions testing device. During normal driving, the effectiveness of the control system was said to be greatly reduced. The EPA notes that this exposed people to harmful pollutants.
Included in the recall are diesel powered Volkswagen Jetta, Beetle, Golf, and Audi A3 from the 2009 to 2014 model years, as well as the 2014 to 2015 Volkswagen Passat.
The company's gasoline powered vehicles are not affected.
Volkswagen Group could face steep fines of up to $18 billion dollars over this incident. Winterkorn promised the company would “do everything in order to reverse the damage this has caused.”
Source: New York Times, via The Consumerist
No comments:
Post a Comment