Volkswagen Group’s emissions cheating scandal is not only a worldwide affair but is ever-increasingly complicated.
As it drags on more and more of the Group’s products are becoming part of the focus.
At time of writing 11 million cars were affected, including 2.1 million Audis, 1.2 million Skodas as well as the SEAT brand and VW’s passenger and commercial vehicles.
Volkswagen NZ still did not know if its products sold here are affected.
Its NZ boss, Tom Ruddenklau, told me: “Every morning we check our emails” from the German head office.
I suggested he was probably also checking his emails during the night as well.
He was hoping that “by next week we’ll hopefully have substantial information”.
A spokesperson for European Motor Distributors — which imports VW, Skoda, and Audi — also explained to me that it’s not just a case of one engine, the EA198, but in reality a “family of engines”.
Affected are the 1.2-, 1.6- and 2-litre four-cylinder diesel engines which “could be Euro4 and Euro5”.
“There are hundreds of engines to fix that are sold in 160 markets,” said the spokesperson.
So what does VW NZ know for sure? That it’s not a Euro6 diesel engine.
Once the affected engines are confirmed it will be a long process for VW Group to solve the problem.
“VW Group would have to make sure the fix works on all the engines in all the countries,” said the spokesperson.
But the pressure is on the company from international regulators to make sure the problem is solved soon. For Ruddenklau, the sooner the better.