VW emissions manipulation extended to petrol cars

Volkswagen engineers have told investigators that certain petrol engines in VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles can be used to manipulate emissions tests, Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag said.

A spokesman for Volkswagen — the parent company of Audi and Porsche — said VW would not comment on an ongoing investigation, adding that the company in recent months had held intensive talks with the Federal Motor Transport Authority.

“There are no new circumstances here,” he said.

Gearboxes and software could be manipulated so that vehicles show lower levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption, Bild said, citing internal documents and witnesses statements.

VW’s emissions scandal has cost the carmaker ^27 billion ($31.3 billion) in penalties and fines for systematic manipulation of diesel-powered cars to mask excessive pollution levels.

In Europe, vehicles are taxed according to their levels of polluting CO2 emissions.

It remains unclear whether the Bild documents represent a new dimension to the Volkswagen cheating scandal since the carmaker in 2015 admitted that around 36,000 petrol-fuelled cars were also being tested for excessive emissions.

VW had the 36,000 cars checked by a neutral body under supervision by the regulator and found minimal deviation from requirements.

The automaker was not required to make any technical changes to those vehicles.