Yahoo – AFP, April 22, 2016
Berlin (AFP) - Major names in the auto industry found themselves caught in headlights of a global engine-rigging scandal on Friday as Volkswagen booked one of the biggest losses in its history over the scam.
 |
| Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson) |
Berlin (AFP) - Major names in the auto industry found themselves caught in headlights of a global engine-rigging scandal on Friday as Volkswagen booked one of the biggest losses in its history over the scam.
As VW
announced it was setting aside 16.2 billion euros to cover the costs of the
scandal, the German government revealed that an emissions probe found that 16
major car brands -- ranging from France's Renault to Italy's Fiat to Japan's
Nissan -- showed up irregularities.
German
carmakers would have to recall Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen
vehicles in Europe after failing the test, Transport Minister Alexander
Dobrindt said, adding that Berlin was unable to require foreign car makers that
did not fall under its jurisdiction to take similar action.
The latest
revelations amounted to another aftershock rocking the automobile sector,
already vulnerable after VW's scandal erupted in September with the admission
that the group had installed so-called "defeat devices" aimed at
cheating emissions tests into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.
 |
Volkswagen
has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter
and 3.0
liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/John SAEKI, Adrian Leung)
|
This week,
the pain spread to Asia, where Japan's Mitsubishi Motors confessed that it
cheated on fuel-efficiency tests.
And late
Thursday, top of the range German maker Daimler announced that it was launching
an internal probe into its emission certification process at the request of the
US authorities.
France's
biggest automaker PSA Group was also not spared, as the country's anti-fraud
squad raided its premises as part of a government probe into emissions after
"anomalies" were found in three vehicles.
16 car
brands hit
The latest
trouble to hit the sector arises from a probe carried out into the emission
values of all vehicle models on German roads.
Of 53
models tested, 22 models were found to emit high nitrogen oxide values and
possess a technical device that raised questions.
The models
in particular have devices that, under specific temperatures, switch off
systems that are meant to remove harmful nitrogen oxide from cars' exhaust.
 |
Daimler --
owner of Mercedes-Benz -- announced that it was launching an internal
investigation, "into its certification process related to exhaust
emissions in the United
States upon the request of the US Department of Justice
(DOJ)" (AFP Photo/
\Paul J. Richards)
|
The systems
for cleaning pollutants are deactivated at low temperatures to protect motors
or prevent a possible accident, as is allowed by EU regulations, but it was not
clear whether some makers used this provision to bend the rules.
Dobrindt
said that besides German brands Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, Opel and Porsche,
as well as France's Renault, "other manufacturers (affected) are ... Alfa
Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan and
Suzuki."
Meanwhile,
independent of the German probe, Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz, announced
that it was launching an internal investigation, "into its certification
process related to exhaust emissions in the United States upon the request of
the US Department of Justice (DOJ)."
Daimler
pledged to "investigate possible indications of irregularities and of
course take all necessary actions," it said as its shares went into a
tailspin on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
In Asia,
Japan's transport ministry sent officials to raid a Mitsubishi Motors research
and development centre for a second day on Friday.
Mitsubishi
said it would halt production and sales of the affected models -- mini-cars
sold in Japan including many made for rival Nissan -- and warned that the
number would likely rise, as it looks to vehicles sold overseas.
 |
Japanese
automaker Mitsubishi has admitted it manipulated pollution data
in more than
600,000 vehicles (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura)
|
VW skids
deep into red
For its
part, VW said it sank into a loss of 1.582 billion euros in 2015, due mainly to
the 16.2 billion euros in provisions it has been forced to set aside to cover
regulatory fines, lawsuits and recall costs of the scandal.
"The
emissions issue significantly impacted Volkswagen's finances," said
Matthias Mueller, group chief executive.
VW had only
just reached an agreement with US regulators -- who had first broken the
scandal -- to offer US owners of some 480,000 illegally polluting diesel cars
options of "substantial compensation" and to fix the cars, or to buy
them back.
The German
giant had faced a court deadline for solutions to the emissions scandal and San
Francisco district court judge Charles Breyer said the agreement in principle
would give owners of its 2.0 liter diesel cars choices for compensation which
also included cancelling the contracts for those under lease.
The offer,
which will likely cost Volkswagen billions of dollars, also included the
creation of a fund for environmental protection, the company said at a court
hearing.
Details of
the proposal between Volkswagen USA, the Department of Justice and the
Environmental Protection Agency were not immediately released.
But it appeared to be enough to allow Volkswagen to avert a huge trial over how it would deal with the scandal that has already deeply damaged the company.
 |
Transport
Minister Alexander Dobrindt gives a statment to the media in Berlin,
Germany,
April 22, 2016. German car manufacturers will recall 630,000 Porsche,
Volkswagen Opel, Audi and Mercedes vehicles to fix diesel emissions management
software, a German government official said on Friday, widening a clampdown on
pollution in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
|
But it appeared to be enough to allow Volkswagen to avert a huge trial over how it would deal with the scandal that has already deeply damaged the company.
The
so-called "dieselgate" scandal led to the departure of VW's chief
executive Martin Winterkorn.
The German
giant, which has abandoned its ambitions of becoming the world's biggest
carmaker ahead of Toyota in the wake of the scandal, has already started
recalling some eight million vehicles affected in Europe.
The scandal
has greatly tarnished the reputation of a company once regarded as a paragon of
German industry.
The recall
operation in Europe is expected to take all year. And while VW is footing the
bill, it is not expecting to have to pay European owners compensation, much to
the chagrin of consumer protection groups.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment