Exclusive:
VW recall letters in April warned of an emissions glitch
Send a link to a friend
[September 24, 2015]
By Alexandria Sage
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In April of
2015, Volkswagen of America, Inc.<VOWG_p.DE> sent letters to California
owners of diesel-powered Audis and Volkswagens informing them of an
“emissions service action” affecting the vehicles.
|
Owners were told they would need to take their cars to a dealer
for new software to ensure tailpipe emissions were "optimized and
operating efficiently."
The company didn’t explain that it was taking the action in hopes of
satisfying government regulators, who were growing increasingly
skeptical about the reason for discrepancies between laboratory
emissions test results and real world pollution from Volkswagen’s
diesel cars.
Officials at the California Air Resources Board and the EPA agreed
in December of 2014 to allow a voluntary recall of the company’s
diesel cars to fix what Volkswagen insisted was a technical – and
easily solved - glitch. The recall was rolled out nationally over a
period of months.
On Wednesday, California Air Resources Board spokesman Dave Clegern
confirmed that the letters were part of that recall. “This is one of
the fixes they presented to us as a potential solution. It didn’t
work,” he said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/24/images/ads/current/cca_laptop-sda021709.png)
Volkswagen, which had no obligation at the time it initiated the
recall to disclose the discussions that had led to it, declined to
comment on the letter.
The controversy came to public attention last week after Volkswagen
acknowledged it had deliberately deceived officials about how much
its diesel cars polluted.
The recall letter instructed owners of certain 2010-2014 Volkswagen
vehicles with 2-liter diesel engines to contact dealers for a
software update in order to fix an issue with the malfunction
indicator light illuminating.
“If the [light] illuminates for any reason, your vehicle will not
pass an IM emissions inspection in some regions,” the letter warned,
noting that California required the update before it would renew
vehicle registrations.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/24/images/ads/current/castlemanor_lda_032414.png)
"The vehicle's engine management software has been improved to
assure your vehicle's tailpipe emissions are optimized and operating
efficiently," read the letter, which said an earlier software update
increased the likelihood of the light illuminating.
It is customary for carmakers to perform updates to their cars
through dealerships to fix or update software.
Volkswagen has said that 11 million of its cars around the world
could be affected in the scandal that broke last week. The German
company has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in its
third-quarter accounts to help cover the costs of any fallout.
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal probe and at
least 25 proposed class actions on behalf of consumers have already
been filed in seven states.
(Reporting By Alexandria Sage; Additional reporting by Rory Carroll;
Editing by Steve Trousdale and Sue Horton)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/24/images/ads/current/ccaonline_lda050208.png) |