Oddly enough, this car was named World Car of the Year for it’s high full efficiency and low emission, but it was one of the cars with the device installed.

Volkswagen, a well-known automotive manufacturer, is in big trouble with the EPA here in America. Close to 500,000 diesel models (known as the TDI line) that were sold in the US had “defeat devices” installed within the cars computer. This device was installed into the computer to recognize when the car was being tested for emissions to pass state inspections. The device would alter amount of fuel used during that test in order to improve results during an emission test. The car was fitted with two “modes”. One of which the car would set to during the emission test to meet the requirements set by the EPA. Once the emission test was done, the car would sense that and revert back to its normal driving mode where the amount of NOx (nitrogen-oxide emissions, which is linked to causing lung cancer) released into the air was increased by 40% over the EPA legal limit, but improved the fuel efficiency greatly. VW did this to boast about their cars and how they were able to have excellent fuel efficiency and low emission output. But the real emission output was masked because it was never able to be properly tested because of the “defeat device”. Models such as VW Jetta, Golf and Passat TDI as well as a small number of Audi’s were affected by this.

VW has since admitted to their cheating of the system and the CEO in America has stepped down. The EPA has also ordered the halt of sales of the cars that were affected by this device until further notice. VW is likely is do a recall of all vehicles affected by this and fix their wrong doing. In states where smog tests are required for registration, such as California, owners may not be able to renew their registration until the problem is fixed, because after all, they would be cheating the system if not fixed.

This has affected VW numbers greatly. 1/3 of the market cap has depleted and the stock price has also been driven down. Since this all started in November 2015, VW has reported losses every single month. It is estimated that VW will spend close to $7 billion fixing their cheating. The US Department of Justice has the ability to sue VW for almost $38,000 per car that was fitted with this device. This would equate to an $18 billion law suit. Now, it’s unlikely that this will happen, but it is being thrown around.

After all this, VW is compensating its customers for the inconvenience and straight up lying to them. Every person who purchased an affected car is receiving a $500 prepaid gift car, along with $500 that can be used at any VW dealership to put towards another car, service, or parts. Along with this, the owners are being give free 24 roadside assistance for the next 3 years.

Sources:http://blog.caranddriver.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-vw-diesel-emissions-scandal/

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772