Volkswagen Australia confirms no local models exceed claimed CO2 emissions

The beleaguered car maker today announced that the majority of the models under investigation did correspond with the CO₂ figures originally determined, but confirmed nine variants sold overseas showed slightly heightened levels of CO₂ emissions.

Volkswagen explained the deviations found in the figures of those nine variants amounted to a few grams of CO₂ on average, corresponding to increased cycle consumption in the NEDC European testing regime of approximately 0.1 to 0.2 litres per 100 kilometres.

In a statement, Volkswagen says these variants will be remeasured by a neutral technical service under the supervision of the appropriate authorities before Christmas.

“In cases where the correctness of original figures is confirmed, there will be no consequences. These cars can be offered for sale by dealers without any reservations," the company said.

“In the case of any deviations, the figures will be adjusted in the future in the course of the normal processes as required.”

Volkswagen says the nine variants represent annual production of just 36,000 units, making up less than five per cent of the 800,000 vehicles originally under investigation, and only approximately 0.5 per cent of the Volkswagen brand’s total production volume.

The statement explains Audi, Skoda and Seat have also agreed to a similar procedure with the approval authorities responsible for the vehicles initially considered.

Volkswagen says no technical vehicle modifications will be required, meaning much of the 2 billion euro ($3 billion) impact on earnings originally expected may be saved.

The findings of the investigation will come as something of a relief to Volkswagen, which has been embroiled in controversy since September when it was first revealed that up to 11 million VW Group vehicles had been fitted with software that enabled them to cheat their way past official emissions tests.

The car maker detailed how it planned fix its 1.6- and 2.0-litre EA189 four-cylinder diesel engines late last month.

The fallout from the ‘dieselgate’ scandal has so claimed the jobs of many leading Volkswagen Group executives, led the company to seek to borrow 20 billion euro ($30 billion) to cover the various associated costs, and forced it to cut model variants and trim options from its future line-up.

List of vehicles where CO₂ values will be revised:
2016 Volkswagen Polo 70TSI DSG
2016 Volkswagen Scirocco 135TDI manual
2016 Volkswagen Jetta 77TSI manual
2016 Volkswagen Jetta 81TDI manual
2016 Volkswagen Golf Convertible 81TSI manual
2016 Volkswagen Golf 110TDI manual
2016 Volkswagen Passat Alltrack 162TSI DSG
2016 Volkswagen Passat wagon 176TDI DSG
2016 Volkswagen Passat wagon 110TSI manual