VW Not the First to Rig Emissions Tests

Volkswagen AG is not the first company that cheated to meet U.S. emissions regulations. Several other carmakers have been caught and penalized for doing so since the early 1970s, Automotive News notes.

The list of past violators that have used so-called emissions defeat devices includes General Motors, Ford and Honda and VW in a previous infraction. Their fines and other costs have ranged from as little as $120,000 to about $270 million, AN reports. By comparison, VW already has set aside €6.4 billion ($7.2 billion) to handle its new problem, which affects 11 million diesel-powered vehicles sold worldwide.

Some of the previous incidents involved differing interpretations of regulations and loopholes in the rules that have since been closed, the newspaper points out.

Before this year's scandal, VW also was caught manipulating emissions tests in 1973. A year later, the company agreed to pay $120,000 for not disclosing the use of two temperature-sensing switches that deactivated part of the emissions control systems in about 25,000 vehicles.

The other cases listed by AN occurred in the 1990s. GM reached an out-of-court settlement in 1995 to pay nearly $45 million for using a computer chip that defeated emissions controls in more than 470,000 1991-1995 Cadillacs.

The chip helped prevent an engine-stalling problem with the Cadillacs when drivers used their air conditioning system, but it had the negative effect of increasing carbon monoxide emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated the devices contributed an additional 100,000 tons of carbon monoxide pollution, resulting in what was described as the first recall for environmental issues.

Although emissions tests at the time didn't take into account the use of climate-control systems, the EPA deemed the GM computer chips to be a defeat device. Current tests measure emissions when the air conditioning is running, AN notes.

In 1998, Ford and Honda both reached settlements with the EPA. Ford paid $7.8 million for using software on 60,000 of its 1997 Econoline vans that caused excessive oxides of nitrogen emissions while improving fuel economy.

Honda's infringement was for disabling part of the onboard diagnostic computer that detected engine misfires on 1.6 million vehicles. Its settlement included a $12.6 million fine, spending $4.5 million on pollution reducing technologies and extending the emissions warranty of affected vehicles to 14 years/150,000 miles, which the EPA calculated would cost more than $250 million.