Volkswagen's US operations chief Michael Horn admitted they knew about the emission problems. (Photo : Reuters)
Volkswagen's admission that its software cheated U.S. regulators to pass the emissions test has resulted in the government questioning the software used by 2016 car models sold by the German vehicle maker.
Caught in the financial turmoil caused by the Volkswagen emission testing scandal are dealers who could not sell their remaining stock of cars with the cheating software, reports Chron.
However, Volkswagen said on Tuesday that auxiliary emission control device found on 2016 models are different from the software in its 2009 to 2015 vehicles. Until a fix is developed by Volkswagen, which must also be approved and implemented, thousands of 2016 Beetles, Golds ad Jetts would continue to be quarantined in U.S. port. The hold order also applies to the diesel version of Passat sedan made in Chatanooga, Tennessee.
Janet McCabe, acting assistant EPA administrator for air quality, stresses, "We have a long list of questions for VW about this. We're getting some answers from them, but we do not have all the answers yet."
If the EPA finds that the second software also cheats, it would put in question the claim by Volkswagen officials that only a few software developers made the cheating software. It would be on top of an ongoing criminal investigation initiated by the EPA and imposition of billions of dollars of fine for breaching the Clean Air Act.
According to Volkswagen, the 2016 software "makes a pollution-control catalyst heat up faster, improving performance of the device that separates smog-causing nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases."
