VW finds fewer cars affected by CO2 probe than expected

Following its investigations regarding incorrect CO2 emissions and fuel economy figures, Volkswagen (VW) has announced the number of affected vehicles is much smaller than initially thought.

In November, VW Group stated that around 800,000 vehicles could have been set to report CO2 emission levels lower than actual ratings, which resulted in throwing fuel economy figures into question.

However, VW released an announcement on 9 December clarifying: “The suspicion that the fuel consumption figures of current production vehicles had been unlawfully changed was not confirmed.”

In fact, after ‘extensive internal investigations’ VW estimated the actual number of affected vehicles to have an annual production of around 36,000.

Originally there were 17 different models being investigated by VW, however it has now been revealed that all but nine model variants have been cleared. In light of this development, VW has now revealed that an independent technical service to re-measure the nine models under the supervision of the relevant authorities, will begin before Christmas.

In a statement VW maintained the variations in the nine models are only slight and amount to ‘a few grams of CO2 on average, corresponding to increased cycle consumption in the NEDC of approximately 0.1 to 0.2 litres per 100 kilometres’.

The statement continues to say that the estimated 32,000 vehicles which remain under suspicion account for only 0.5 per cent of the VW Group’s volume.

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