The software that causes Volkswagen cars to cheat official emissions tests only exists in one type of diesel engine, the carmaker says – and it has sold 11 million of them around the world. The company says it's setting aside 6.5 billion euros (around $7.25 billion) to fix the cars.
Providing an update to a scandal that began Friday, when the EPA said it found wide variations in emissions from VW cars that use a "defeat device" to fool emissions tests, the German company said that it's "working at full speed" to investigate the problematic software.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency said it was ordering VW to issue a recall for around 482,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars that have 4-cylinder turbo diesel engines. The cars are outfitted with software that detects when an official emissions test is under way — and when the cars aren't being tested, they "emit up to 40 times more pollution" than allowed under U.S. standards, according to the EPA and the California Air Resources Board.
The EPA said that when it confronted Volkswagen with the results of its tests, the company admitted that the test-evading software was on the cars.
"I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public," Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said Monday.
Fallout from the emissions trickery stripped more than $15 billion away from Volkswagen's market value Monday – a figure that's roughly equal to the amount of fines that industry analysts say VW could face as a punishment.
On Tuesday, officials in South Korea said they'll conduct new tests of imported VW cars to make sure they meet pollution standards.
From Seoul, NPR's Elise Hu reports, "The environment ministry here in South Korea says if wrongdoing is found, the European automaker could be fined up to $3.5 million and required to recall the vehicles."
Today, Volkswagen also said it "does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever" and reiterated its goal of winning back its customers' trust.
As we reported Friday:
"The news that the Volkswagens produce far more pollution than is legal is sure to rattle some VW owners who bought their cars at least in part because of their perceived impact on the environment. The U.S. government also has reason to feel duped: Volkswagen's 'clean diesel' TDI engines earned a $1,300 federal tax credit for people who purchased a Jetta sedan or wagon back in 2009, the first year affected by the recall."
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