VW has confirmed that nearly 1.2 million British vehicles are affected, consisting of 508,276 Volkswagen cars, 393,450 Audis, 131,569 Skodas, 79,838 VW commercial vehicles and 76,773 Seats. Photo / AP
VW has confirmed that nearly 1.2 million British vehicles are affected, consisting of 508,276 Volkswagen cars, 393,450 Audis, 131,569 Skodas, 79,838 VW commercial vehicles and 76,773 Seats. Photo / AP
VW pollution trial affects 1.2m UK cars.
High levels of pollution are being emitted by diesel vehicles built by a range of carmakers other than Volkswagen, it has been reported.
New diesel cars from companies including Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat and Volvo allegedly produce more emissions when tested in realistic driving conditions, according to data from Europe's biggest motoring organisation.
The revelations come after it was announced that nearly one in 10 diesel cars in Britain are fitted with the software that caused the Volkswagen scandal.
VW has confirmed that nearly 1.2 million British vehicles are affected, consisting of 508,276 Volkswagen cars, 393,450 Audis, 131,569 Skodas, 79,838 VW commercial vehicles and 76,773 Seats.
Volkswagen New Zealand general manager Tom Ruddenklau said he hoped to have confirmation by early next week whether New Zealand cars were affected.
"Overnight we've had no further specifics," Ruddenklau said. "I'd love to think that by the end of the weekend we'll have some specifics for our market but at the moment we haven't got a list of vehicles or, probably more importantly, what the specific technical fix would be if cars here were to be affected. It's so frustrating, but it is what it is."
Ruddenklau said he would be updating the market as soon as he had further information. He said the company had received some feedback from upset customers, but equally as much support from others, who understood it was out of the New Zealand company's control.
"We've had quite a few customers who are very complimentary of the dealer and salespeople they've been dealing with, which is a great boost of confidence, to be honest," he said.
Motor Trade Association chief executive Warwick Quinn said it was likely Volkswagen buyers might hold off until the issues had been resolved.
I think people will wait to see how Volkswagen respond before they decide what to do. We have heard from small numbers of people ringing our helpline here, asking what this might mean and saying they might hold off buying [a Volkswagen] until this has unfolded - it's a small sample but I suspect there might be other people saying the same.
Only a quarter of the 79 different cars tested by Adac matched their official performance on the existing EU test, it has been reported in the Guardian and Independent newspapers.
The results show the Volvo S60, Renault's Espace Energy, the Jeep Renegade and Nissan-made X-Trail all exceeded legal European limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) by more than 10 times.
Reinhard Kolke, Adac head of test and technical affairs, told the Guardian: "If all cars complied with [the official EU NOx limit], we would have solved all the worst health effects. Every consumer has the right to expect all manufacturers to do this. But still there are these gross emitters."
Adac put the diesel models through the EU's existing test (NEDC) then compared the results with a longer UN-sanctioned test (WLTC) which is believed to represent more realistic driving conditions.
A Nissan spokeswoman said: "We can state unequivocally that we are committed to upholding the law and meeting regulations in all markets."
A Renault Group spokesman said: "The group complies with all regulations and legislation for the markets in which it operates. Its vehicles are not equipped with defeat devices."
"Hyundai Motor abides by the testing regulations and methods of each region where it sells cars including Europe," said a spokeswoman.
Citroen, Fiat and Jeep have not commented on the findings.
There is no suggestion any of the other manufacturers used devices to cheat the testing process.
