#VwDieselScandal
Audi: More Than 2 Million Cars Worldwide Have Illegal Software
Audi said that 2.1 million of its cars worldwide have been fitted with illegal software to help it cheat emissions tests, Reuters reported.
The automaker announced that multiple models including the A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5 were affected by the “defeat device” uncovered by researchers, which is grinding Volkswagen to an unimaginable halt.
Roughly three-quarters of the affected Audis were sold in Western Europe, including 577,000 in Germany alone, according to the report.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Discount Hunters Find Silver Lining In Volkswagen's Diesel Clouds
While some declare Volkswagen dead in their betrayed hearts over the recent emissions scandal, others see an opportunity for a discount on a diesel.
![Cameron Aubernon](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/resources/imgs-responsive/avatar-letters/avatar-C-FF9646.png?size=50x50)
Volkswagen of America Temporarily Reins In Adverts Amid Diesel Scandal
If, while watching your team crush it this weekend, you see few Volkswagen ads, you’re not alone; VW of America is reining in advertising for two weeks.
![Cameron Aubernon](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/resources/imgs-responsive/avatar-letters/avatar-C-FF9646.png?size=50x50)
Volkswagen Warned About Cheating As Early As 2007
While the EPA recently revealed Volkswagen’s diesels were cheating emissions tests, two newspapers learned VW was warned about cheating as early as 2007.
![Cameron Aubernon](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/resources/imgs-responsive/avatar-letters/avatar-C-FF9646.png?size=50x50)
Swiss Officials Issue Temporary Volkswagen Diesel Sales Ban
Volkswagen’s pain parade marches on, this time to Switzerland, which has temporarily banned sales of the automaker’s diesels.
![Cameron Aubernon](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/resources/imgs-responsive/avatar-letters/avatar-C-FF9646.png?size=50x50)
Report: Taxpayers Paid $20.7 Million For 'Clunker' Volkswagen Diesels
Justin Hyde at Yahoo Autos has fine, fine reporting that U.S. taxpayers paid more than $20 million in incentives for Volkswagen diesel models under the “Cash for Clunkers” program.
According to the report, 4,599 VW Jetta and Jetta Sportwagen diesel cars qualified for the maximum $4,500 incentive under the program. Those cars were equipped with a 2-liter turbocharged diesel engine that the Environmental Protection Agency said used an illegal defeat device to cheat emissions.
The Yahoo report follows a report by the L.A. Times that shows that more than $51 million was paid to Volkswagen by the U.S. for now-bogus “green” claims.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Automakers' Denials of Cheating Actually Faster Than Many of Their Cars
This week, Daimler, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued statements on how their diesel cars don’t cheat like someone else you may’ve heard of.
“The BMW Group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests,” BMW said in a statement Thursday. “We observe the legal requirements in each country and fulfill all local testing requirements.”
BMW’s admission is notable because the automakers’ X3 diesel model was targeted by the independent commission that discovered that Volkswagen’s cars illegally polluted.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Matthias Mller Will Take Over At Volkswagen, Vahland Becomes Horn's Boss
Making official Friday what we’ve heard for a while ( Der Tagesspiegel reported on Monday), Porsche CEO Matthias Müller will take the reigns at Volkswagen.
Müller replaces Martin Winterkorn, who resigned after the Environmental Protection Agency notified Volkswagen that 482,000 cars in the U.S. used an illegal “defeat device” to cheat emissions.
In a statement Müller said that restoring trust in the automaker would be his first priority:
My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group – by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
This is Why Volkswagen Won't Pay $18 Billion
It’s entirely possible that the Environmental Protection Agency could levy the largest ever civil penalty for Clean Air Act violations against Volkswagen after the automaker lied about emissions from their diesel engines.
In 2014, the government agency fined Hyundai and Kia $100 million for spewing 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases above what they reported for 1.1 million cars.
For Volkswagen, using the EPA’s own penalty worksheet (which is apparently a thing), the fine may be substantially more than that levied against the Korean automakers — about $3.15 billion more.
Here’s how we got that number.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Used Car Dealers Line Up Against Volkswagen
Used car dealerships have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Volkswagen over cars they say they can’t sell and are seeking the same compensation the German automaker is offering its new car dealers, Reuters reported (via Automotive News).
According to the attorney representing the dealers, selling the cars could put the businesses at risk of lawsuits from their customers. If the used dealers can’t sell their in-stock Volkswagen diesels, the businesses would shoulder the losses, the lawsuit alleges.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
QOTD: How Much Do People Really Care About Emissions?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, it has officially emerged that Volkswagen has been lying to the general public like one of those guys who approaches you at a gas station and says his car has broken down and he just needs three more dollars for a bus fare.
This is surprising. Anyone who ever owned a Volkswagen knew that they were a bit sleazy, in the sense that they told you they offered “solid German engineering” when what they really offered was a bunch of untested parts farmed out to the lowest bidder. But we never really expected them to be overtly lying about stuff. Especially stuff as important as emissions results.
Or at least, I say “important,” but then I stop and think about it for a second, and I wonder: How important really are emissions numbers?
![Doug DeMuro](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/106934_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Biofuel Makers May Have Known About Volkswagen Emissions Rigging for Years
A recent press release on the completion and success of a three-year program to test biofuels in Volkswagen Jetta and Passat TDI models may hint that two external companies had knowledge of the high levels of NOx produced by the “Clean Diesel” vehicles.
The two California-based companies — Solazyme and Amyris — were given the Volkswagen vehicles to test their fuels. VW announced that the program was a success a few months ago, stating CO2 emissions were reduced when using the biofuels. However, the companies only would have known their fuels produced less emissions if the biofuel companies tested the emissions output using diesel fuel and compared it with their own products.
![Bozi Tatarevic](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/667129_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Report: Matthias Mller to Take Over Volkswagen
According to the Wall Street Journal, Porsche CEO Matthias Müller will take over as CEO at Volkswagen following Martin Winterkorn’s resignation Wednesday.
Müller, who is 62 years old, took over as CEO of Porsche in 2010, where he expanded the sports car-maker’s lineup to include more crossover vehicles. Müller is a Volkswagen AG lifer: before becoming CEO of Porsche, Müller was in charge of all Audi and Lamborghini product lines, and had been at Audi since 1977.
On Monday, German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported that Müller would replace Winterkorn by the end of this week.
According to the report, Müller will be seen as a compromise CEO who is friendly to rank-and-file VW workers.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Don't Cry For Winterkorn Just Yet; Former CEO Could Get $67M Handshake
Ousted Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn could receive up to $67 million after leaving the automaker on Wednesday, depending on how his exit pay is calculated.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Winterkorn had amassed at least $34 million in his pension by 2014 ( was stock included?) and his exit pay would be roughly two years of his current former $17 million annual compensation.
He’d also be entitled to a company car. There are plenty he could choose from right now.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Dirty Diesel Report Sinking BMW As Volkswagen Fallout Grows
German magazine Auto Bild reported Thursday that the diesel BMW X3 exceeded by 11 times allowable limits of nitrogen oxide in a growing scandal started by Volkswagen’s admission it had cheated on emissions tests. BMW shares tumbled 5 percent Thursday morning after the news.
“All measured data suggest that this is not a VW-specific issue,” International Council on Clean Transportation Europe Managing Director Peter Mock told the German magazine.
BMW denied any deception, telling USA Today in an email that it “does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests.
![Aaron Cole](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/671745_1.jpg?size=50x50)
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