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The beginning and the end
VW sparked global outrage after the iconic company admitted that 11 million of its diesel cars were equipped with so-called defeat devices that covertly turn off pollution controls when the car is being driven and turn them back on when tests are being conducted. The scandal broke in the United States, where VW faces possible fines of more than $18 billion (16.1 euros), but diesel cars account for only a small part of the market there.
Volkswagen's pollution cheating scandal has unleashed criminal and regulatory investigations around the world, slashed billions of euros off its stock market value and topped the chief executive.
Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday, September 23 over the scandal. He is replaced by Matthias Mueller, former head of luxury sports car maker Porsche. Mueller had already been tipped to take over VW during a bitter leadership struggle earlier this year between Winterkorn and his one-time mentor and former supervisory board chief Ferdinand Piech.
Volkswagen is meanwhile the world's largest auto manufacturer by sales in the first half of this year, with car brands including Audi, VW, Seat and Skoda.
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Volkswagen probes around the world
UNITED STATES: The US has made broadest response so far. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has referred the affair to the Justice Department, which has opened a criminal investigation and is "working closely with the EPA."
MEXICO: Authorities are checking whether VW violated Mexican emissions standards, the environment minister said, amid concerns over the possible consequences for a local VW factory.
EUROPEAN UNION: The EU urged its 28 member states to investigate whether vehicles comply with European pollution rules.
BRITAIN: The Vehicle Certification Agency is working with automakers "to ensure that this issue is not industry-wide,"
FRANCE: Finance Minister Michel Sapin called for a Europe-wide probe, saying that it might be necessary to check cars made by other European carmakers as well to reassure the public. Spot checks of several brands are planned, beginning Friday with VW models.
GERMANY: In VW's home country, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt has instructed the Federal Motor Transport Authority "to immediately have specific and extensive tests conducted on all Volkswagen diesel models by independent experts." Dobrindt said Friday that 2.8 million VWs in the country were fitted with the emissions rigging device.
ITALY: The transport ministry said it will open an inquiry and demand explanations from the German auto giant. The ministry said it needs to know if similar diesel-equipped VW cars were sold in Italy.
NORWAY: The country's economic crimes unit has opened a probe to see if VW cars sold there were equipped with pollution test thwarting software. In neighbouring Sweden, the Nordic region's biggest bank, Nordea, has barred its traders from buying VW shares and bonds for six months owing to the scandal.
-INDIA: The government has instructed the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to inspect VW cars and see if the cars sold there were the same as in the US and whether they had the same software.
SOUTH KOREA: Environmental authorities questioned VW officials about the affair, and the country plans to test emissions of three VW models starting in mid-October. The environment ministry estimates that around 59,000 vehicles equipped with the software are now on the road in South Korea.
AUSTRALIA: The Australian government said it was seeking urgent clarification from Volkswagen over whether cars in the country are involved in the scandal over rigged emission results
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EU tightening auto emission tests
The European Union moved to change its diesel car emission tests to prevent the sort of rigging used by German auto giant Volkswagen after noticing discrepancies in the results, EU sources said. The sources said research over several years showed a difference between emission levels recorded in the laboratory and those found in real-world driving conditions.
The European Union since the 1990s has progressively adopted tighter auto emission standards for carbon dioxide and the harmful nitrogen oxides vehicles produce but it is up to the 28 member states to enforce them. It banned defeat devices in 2014 under what is known as the Euro 6 regulations which require automakers to meet lower emission targets.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said that "currently emissions are measured on a laboratory test cycle (NED) which does not reflect the emissions of vehicles in normal driving conditions." "To address this shortcoming, the Commission has been working to develop Real Driving Emission (RED) test procedures," it said. "RED testing will reduce the currently observed differences between emissions measured in the laboratory and those measured on the road under real-world conditions, and to a great extent limit the risk of cheating with a defeat device."
The new testing procedure will come into force in January, the Commission added.
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Platinum down, Palladium up
Platinum, used in the production of catalytic converters, crashed this week to the lowest price in 6.5 years on the back of Volkswagen's pollution cheating scandal. The precious metal, which also has been weakened in recent months by worries linked to the flagging global economy, plunged Wednesday to $926.35 per ounce -- the lowest level since January 2009. Platinum is mainly used for industrial purposes and about half of global demand stems from the production of catalytic converters for diesel cars.
The price of sister metal palladium -- used in gasoline or petrol powered vehicles -- meanwhile climbed as a result of the Volkswagen affair. Despite a supply deficit in the platinum market, prices have plunged by about 23 percent since the start of this year, weighed down also by concerns over the world economy -- and particularly China.
Analysts warn that platinum and palladium could diverge even further in the coming weeks and months
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UK air pollution gets worse
The UK government quietly launched its consultation on air quality earlier this month. This was in response to a supreme court ruling stating the government must take immediate action to cut nitrogen dioxide pollution, which has reached dangerous levels in many of the UK’s big cities.
The only national measure in the proposed plans are for clean air zones, similar to the one already run in London, but responsibility for their implementation has been passed onto local authorities for which no additional money is available.
The document notes that approximately 80 percent of the NOx (nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide) emissions are due to transport, with the largest source being diesel vehicles. Air pollution has been linked to coronary artery disease, heart attacks and strokes.
In the consultation it is estimated that the impact of nitrogen dioxide on mortality is equivalent to 23,500 deaths every year in the UK. This figure has been taken, along with earlier estimates of mortality due to particulate matter (29,000), to give 52,500 premature deaths each year due to air pollution.
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A EU-wide problem
The recent report from campaign group Transport & Environment found that nine out of every ten new diesel vehicles broke EU limits. On average real world NOx emissions were about seven times higher than permitted levels. Cars from all the major motor manufacturers were in breach of the limits with the worst car producing 22 times than that permitted.
It is evident that the current practice of allowing motor manufacturers to select the bodies to test and check their compliance with emission limits is not fit for purpose and an independent testing authority should be established.
Yet for many years the European car industry has lobbied against tighter environmental regulation, despite the mounting evidence of car transports’ rising negative impact on the climate (carbon emissions) and urban air pollution (NOx emissions).
