MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner signs off

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

The software that allegedly causes Volkswagen cars to cheat official emissions tests exists in only one type of diesel engine, according to the carmaker — 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.

Updated at 5:25 p.m. ET: NY Attorney General Investigation


New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman 

 announcing his office would be launching a separate probe into the European carmaker's actions and hinting that other states would join the investigation.



Late last week, the Environmental Protection Agency said it was ordering VW to issue a recall for about 482,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars that have four-cylinder turbodiesel engines. The cars are outfitted with software that detects when an official emissions test is underway — and when the cars aren't being tested, they "

" 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.

 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.


Earlier 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."

The initial report from the EPA listed five models made from 2009-2015 that have what its inspectors (and the Clean Air Act) call a "defeat device." Three more models were added to the list to account for variations in styles. The list now includes both the Jetta sedan and "sportwagen," for instance (see full list below).

Tuesday, Volkswagen also said it "does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever" and reiterated its goal of winning back its customers' trust.

 that contain "a sophisticated software device that circumvents EPA emissions standards for certain air pollutants," below:


Environmental News

The software that the EPA says causes Volkswagen cars to cheat official emissions tests exists in only one type of diesel engine, the carmaker says -- and it has sold 11 million of them.

Volkswagen: 11 million cars worldwide have emissions 'defeat device'

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox