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 "Put simply, these cars contained software that turns off
emissions controls when driving normally and turns them on when the
car is undergoing an emissions test," Cynthia Giles, an enforcement
officer at the EPA, told reporters in a teleconference.
Volkswagen can face civil penalties of $37,500 for each vehicle not
in compliance with federal clean air rules. There are 482,000
four-cylinder VW and Audi diesel cars sold since 2008 involved in
the allegations. If each car involved is found to be in
noncompliance, the penalty could be $18 billion, an EPA official
confirmed on the teleconference.
A U.S. Volkswagen spokesman said the company "is cooperating with
the investigation; we are unable to comment further at this time."
The feature in question, which the EPA called a "defeat device,"
masks the true emissions only during testing and therefore when the
cars are on the road they emit as much as 40 times the level of
pollutants allowed under clean air rules meant to ensure public
health is protected, Giles said.
The EPA accused Volkswagen of using software in four-cylinder
Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from model years 2009 to 2015 made
to circumvent emissions testing of certain air pollutants.
The cars are not facing recall at this time, the EPA said. VW did
not indicate on Friday how it will address the issue.
The EPA has the authority to order VW to recall the vehicles.
However, that process could take up to a year, depending on the
complexity of the issue, an EPA official said.
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The diesel-powered vehicles involved from the 2009 to 2015 model
years are the VW Jetta, VW Beetle, VW Golf and the Audi A3, as well
as the VW Passat from model years 2014 and 2015.
VW in North America has heavily marketed its vehicles as being
"clean diesel."
In a television commercial that has aired frequently this year in
the United States, VW says it is the "No. 1 diesel car brand in
America," brags its cars are "clean diesel" and asks viewers, "Isn't
it time for German engineering?"
Since 2009, diesel vehicles have made up approximately 15 percent of
VW and Audi U.S. sales.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker in Washington and Paul
Lienert in Detroit)
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