U.S. environmental agency accuses Volkswagen of cheating for 2nd time on pollution tests

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday issued a second notice of violation (NOV) to Volkswagen (VW) for installing software to cheat emissions tests on larger diesel cars.

The EPA accused Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Volkswagen Group of America, as well as Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America, of installing software in their diesel cars equipped with six-cylinder (3.0 liter) engines for model years 2014 through 2016 to circumvent emission standards.

"VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans," alleged Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Office for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

"All companies should be playing by the same rules," Giles stressed.

The affected diesel models included 2014 VW Touareg, 2015 Porsche Cayenne, 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L and Q5, said the EPA. The software will make these cars pass emissions tests, but during daily driving, the emissions of nitrogen oxides can increase up to nine times of the EPA standard.

The VW denied the EPA's charge in a statement issued Monday, saying it didn't install software in those models to change their emissions characteristics. The company also pledged to cooperate with the U.S. agency.

On Sept. 18, the EPA also issued a notice of violation alleging Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Volkswagen Group of America installed software to manipulate emissions tests in about 482,000 four-cylinder (2 liter) diesel cars sold in the United States since 2008.

At present, up to 11 million diesel cars sold by VW worldwide have been affected by this emission scandal, which has forced VW's former chief executive Martin Winterkorn to resign and made the company lose billions of dollars at capital market and being investigated in several countries. Endit