VW's Commerical Vehicles Will Also Have To Be Recalled
The charges brought against Volkswagen for evading federal emissions regulations have now gotten bigger. On September 18, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) charged the German car manufacturer with exposing the public to harmful pollutants by installing software in diesel cars in the United States and Europe. The number of such involved vehicles was cited as 482,000, although that figure was later substantially increased to 11 million. VW has now admitted that more than one million of its commercial vehicles, which are vans and pickups, are also involved. It is estimated that the company will have to spend about 7 billion to fix the problems, causing experts to question whether VW can hold on to its position as the world's largest automaker. During the first six months of 2015, Volkswagen passed Toyota as the world leader in terms of car sales.
In the original charges against the auto company, cars of various prices were equipped with what was called a "Clean Diesel" model that saved fuel and simply ran more efficiently. The EPA called it false advertising. Expecting to save substantial fuel costs, consumers bought these models for premium prices. In addition to the American models, millions of the car sold in Europe are also involved.
The EPA raised questions about the VW cars and the new device after researchers raised some doubts about the promised emissions levels. It was unclosed that these cars were fixed with a device that was able to switch on pollution controls when the auto was being tested. Out on the road, the switch could be turned off to save money and fuel. However, once the switch was off, harmful emissions levels were released into the atmosphere. As an EPA administrator commented: "We expected better from VW."
Experts say that Volkswagen is facing many more headaches in addition to fixing the affected vehicles. The company must "fix" the affected cars that now stand idle in the lots across the country and the world. If VW decides to interest new buyers for these cars, the overall demand for used cars might also drop. Experts also claim that in order to make these affected models meet with standard emissions levels, their performance, such as horsepower and efficient running, will drop substantially. The VW diesel owner may have the car fixed, but it will not and cannot perform as initially advertised.
An owner of any of these diesel VW autos has questions and frustrations about these cars, such as:
Q. Is my car affected?
A. Affected cars: VW or Audi; Jetta, Beetle, Passat, Golf, or A3; no older than 2009 model.
Q. Can I keep driving my affected car?
A. Apparently, that is a yes for now.
