TEST EVERY DIESEL IN UK

As VW storm grows, minister orders urgent checks on all models

ALL diesel car models in Britain are to be retested amid fears the Volkswagen scandal is an industry-wide problem. The Vehicle Certification Agency has been ordered to re-run laboratory emission tests on cars suspected of cheating. The watchdog will compare the lab results – long criticised for giving unrealistic readings – to ‘real-world driving’ data.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin last night promised to robustly tackle Volkswagen’s ‘unacceptable actions’. In other developments: Fellow German giant BMW was forced to vigorously deny claims that it has also cheated;

MPs on the powerful transport select committee said they will hold an inquiry into the scandal;

British law firms have been inundated with calls from worried motorists and predicted the biggest- ever UK class action that could cost Volkswagen billions;

Company chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday, could receive a severance package of £23million;

Experts predicted Volkswagen sales will be hit, which will cause their resale values to plummet.

Volkswagen has admitted that 11million of its cars were fitted with so-called ‘defeat device’ software designed to trick official tests into believing a car is emitting fewer pollutants than it really is. But the shamed German carmaker has not said how many are in the UK.

As a result, government officials will now

check all models currently on UK roads from all manufacturers to see if their lab readings are replicated in real driving conditions.

Mr McLoughlin said: ‘The Government takes the unacceptable actions of VW extremely seriously.

‘We have called on the EU to conduct a Europe-wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with defeat devices.

‘In the meantime, we are taking robust action. The Vehicle Certification Agency is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry-wide.

‘As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions.’

Hundreds of thousands of cars in the Volkswagen family – including Skoda, SEAT and Audi brands – face being recalled to have a software ‘patch’ to remove the offending cheat programme.

The cheat software alerts the car to the fact that it is undergoing an official emissions test and alters how it runs to unfairly reduce harmful emissions of nitrous oxides or NOx. If the British tests throw up massive discrepan- cies between results achieved in the lab and those on the road – as happened in the US – this could point to cheating here.

German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said Volkswagen had confirmed to him that the 11 million vehicles which had been ‘manipulated’ included cars with 1.6litre and 2-litre diesel engines.

He added: ‘We don’t yet have figures for how many of these 11 million cars that are apparently affected are in Europe. That will be cleared up in the next few days.’ Announcing an inquiry, transport select committee chairman Louise Ellman said: ‘Action must be taken to give the public confidence in the testing regime in relation to emissions, safety, recyclability and other factors. There are questions over whether the testing authorities commissioned by motor manufacturers are truly independent.’

The scandal erupted when researchers for the International Council on Clean Transpor- tation in the US tested a Volkswagen Jetta with a conventional NOx filter, and a larger Volkswagen Passat which uses a filter of liquid urea or urine to remove the NOx via a chemical reaction with the ammonia it produces.

Both passed the lab tests – but only because the software had secretly switched the engines to a cleaner mode. When tested in ‘real-life conditions on the road’, the emissions were up to 40 times higher.

The researchers alerted the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency, which grilled Volkswagen bosses for a year before they confessed to cheating.

Rupert Pontin of the car trade’s price ‘bible’, Glass’s Guide, said Volkwagen prices and residual prices were set to tumble.

He added: ‘We’re still waiting for the hard data. But the anecdotal evidence is that this is not looking good for Volkswagen.

‘My suspicion is that people will stop buying. Trade buyers are confused. It all comes down to consumer confidence. How will Middle England respond?

‘How would you feel if you were taking delivery of a new Volkswagen with all this going on? Nobody wants to buy a Golf or Polo they can’t sell.’