Sales of cars with ‘defeat’ software started in 2008, says VW boss
News
13 Oct 2015
Volkswagen UK boss Paul Willis has admitted to MPs that his company’s ‘defeat’ device did affect the results of emissions test in Europe and that sales of cars including the software starting in the UK in 2008.
Willis came before the transport select committee on 12 October, confirming that the full number of cars to be recalled in the UK is 1,189,906, spread across five VW brands - Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, Škoda and Seat.
Wallis maintained his ignorance to the situation until news broke in the US, saying: "I knew nothing about this subject until September 19 this year, when I first heard it on the news from the United States."
Standing before the committee, Willis explained: "It seems from what I understand - and I'm not an engineer - that the system of gas regulation in the engine influenced the NOx output in cars that we sell in the UK. These cars are type approved across all of Europe, of course, and they're type approved in Germany, with separate people overlooking it.
"We mishandled the situation in so far as our engines behaved differently within the testing regime to the real world. That's why we need to fix the cars, that's why we need to get the customers in, and that's why we need to put the cars right. We mishandled the situation, without a shadow of a doubt.
"It seems that in the test regime the engine behaved differently to the real-world situation via software. The software affected the flow of gas to the engine which reduced the NOx."
Around 700,000 2-litre and 1.2-litre engines effected by the emissions scandal will only need a software patch to rectify the problem. Wallis went on to suggest that once the software in the affected cars has been fixed, the MPG figures for each model will be unaffected.
However, the VW UK boss also told MPs that more 400,000 vehicles in the UK, believed to be those with 1.6-litre EA189 diesel engines, will require fuel injectors as well as the software patch.
MPs also took the opportunity to question Willis and Mike Hawkes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, on the effectiveness of the current emissions testing procedure.
Hawkes admitted that the difference between NEDC tests and the real world could be ‘up to 30 per cent’, but that the figures are meant to be used for a ‘comparison process’ and always have a disclaimer about real world differences.
Both Hawkes and Wallis suggested that the current testing is probably outdated. Wallis said: "If we look at the test regime on emissions, we know it is old-fashioned and not fit for purpose. We need completely independent tests that look at all sorts of detail, like Euro NCAP, which uses real-world testing. We need to look at that."
