Imports of diesel Volkswagen group cars halted amid scandal

Sources at Pon’s, the company that imports Volkswagens (VW) into the Netherlands, told NU.nl on Monday that it has stopped selling diesel cars with suspicious engines. The announcement was made in response to the emissions scandal that has plagued VW in recent weeks, regarding their Euro 5 diesel engine type EA 189. VW was caught in the United States cheating on the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) emission requirement for motor vehicles. The onboard software is designed to ensure that while during conducting emissions testing in a garage environment, the emission released were in range with the EPA’s requirements. However, results of testing while the cars were used on the road produced results to the contrary. Volkswagen announced last week that worldwide around 11 million cars had been equipped with this supposedly nefarious software, in conjunction with 2.1 million Audi and 1.2 million Skoda. A criminal investigation case was opened against the company in the United States and could lead to penalties of up to 18 billion dollars (16 million euros). The German automaker is working on new software for the affected cars, new CEO Matthias Müller announced on Tuesday. Customers will be directly notified of further developments within a few days, he said. Volkswagen, the 11 million diesel cars that are equipped with software that emissions can manipulate with new software in order to comply with the rules. According to the new CEO Matthias Müller there are extensive plans drawn up for the replacement to be submitted to regulators. A Pon’s spokesperson told NU.nl that they are looking for clarity from Volkswagen that they are conscious about the problems with engines, as Pons stands for a reliable product and is concerned with reliable delivery of diesel engines.