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VW Engineers Admit Cheating on CO2 Emission Tests
Several Volkswagen AG engineers have told company investigators they doctored cars in the past two years to improve carbon dioxide emission results, Bild am Sonntag reports.
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Several Volkswagen AG engineers have told company investigators they doctored cars in the past two years to improve carbon dioxide emission results, Bild am Sonntag reports.
The engineers admit they overinflated the tires of test vehicles and thinned their engine oil with diesel fuel to help lower CO2 emissions and improve fuel economy ratings, according to the German newspaper. It says the engineers manipulated the tests to achieve aggressive goals set by then-CEO Martin Winterkorn.
Bild says Winterkorn declared publicly in early 2012 that he expected VW to slash its CO2 emissions an average 30% by 2015.
The company acknowledged last week that it rigged the results for about 800,000 vehicles, most of them diesels sold in Europe, to meet the goal. The company estimates it will pay €2 billion ($2.1 billion) to compensate owners for higher taxes on their vehicles after the emission results are adjusted.
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