Milan – What tests on car emissions were highly unreliable and sottostimassero the actual amount of gas released into the air from cars is well established, as is the fact that the truth was running for some time among the experts . But now that the scandal Volkswagen has stripped the king, and Matthias Müller became the new CEO of the German group, it shows the details of how the European authorities had been warned of the existence armamentarium available to automakers to rig the results of the tests. And they have put in place countermeasures.
Thanks to the reconstruction of the Financial Times falls the veil of hypocrisy palaces Community in Brussels on the scandal of diesel engines from Volkswagen rigged. Those same organizations are now calling for the EU to clamp down on the test had been warned since 2013 (the first data date back to 2011) the environmental hazard represented by software and tools (which is illegal since 2007) to alter the results of Analysis on pollutants from diesel engines. The same programs and gadgets used by Volkswagen and discovered in the US, but ignored in the Old Continent, though they were warned: a report of the Joint Research Center EU was presented to the leadership EU two years ago and already he suggested to carry out tests on the gas polluting road and not only in workshops equipped to simulate the pace slower or faster car. On the other hand, the same indication comes dall’Icct for some time: it is the institution which exposed the tricks of Vw on to say that Nox emissions approved overridden by road in the order of 40%.
The reference to the Ft and the Joint Research Center is the software that was activated to reduce emissions of pollutants only when the unit indicated that the diesel cars on which it was fraudulently installed was on the rolls for testing on the shop floor. Once on the street, making sure that the machine bent and was no longer on the rolls with the steering locked, the diabolical instrument goes off alone, boosted by as much as 40 times the levels of pollutants. All this without the owners of the cars but not the manufacturers.
According to the business newspaper of the City “the inability of regulatory authorities across the EU (the responsibilities of the individual states is ) to denounce these tricks brings out the power of the European car industry lobby that has bet heavily on diesel. About 53% of new cars sold in the EU are (today) diesel, compared to about 10% of the early ‘ 90 “. The conservative Daily Telegraph , citing Greenpeace, said in Brussels and ‘activates a powerful lobby of diesel only in 2014 spent 18.4 million Euros to support the dissemination of this type of engines. Even in Germany itself are being investigated at this time to figure out who was aware of what was happening in the home of Wolfsburg, but the Transport Ministry has denied any complicity.
Brussels defends saying, through a spokesman for the Commission, the EU researchers have measured only the emissions of the car, not the engines which did not have access, discovering gas in the laboratory other than those on the road: a known fact that led the EU to introduce tests road by 2016. Finally, the Commission recalls that it is for states, not in Brussels, check indicted software such as Volkswagen.
Around Europe continues then counts damage . Will start within a few weeks the big appeal of the Volkswagen group for the review will cover 11 million cars with diesel engines equipped with control units bootleg. “Traders will be more accurate as of next week,” the spokesman said VW, stressing that the intervention will obviously be free. The owners of the vehicles involved in the maxi-call – which will be carried out in cooperation with national authorities – will be informed in writing. The spokesman did not however wish to set out the possible costs of such an operation. In Germany, diesel cars are rigged 2.8 million, in Italy the estimated maximum of 1 million vehicles, “There are checks going to check the damage caused in Italy by Volkswagen. The forecast is to close this investigation within few months. There is a forecast of utmost talking about 1 million vehicles involved, “said Riccardo Nencini, Vice Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, on the sidelines of the meeting of national centers for audits of private motor vehicles, in Genoa. The fears on the economic impacts also arrive at the summit of the Treasury: “I fear the consequences, which I hope will be limited, there could be a chain effect on the Italian who is not to blame,” said Salerno Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, the party of Civic Choice. “We are waiting for data from the German Ministry of Transport, which should start to arrive next week, also on the different models of car involved. The picture appears they are expanding also in models of lower displacement.” Meanwhile, Volkswagen has written a letter to the Italian dealers invited to stop selling the cars are marked as not in compliance with anti-pollution standards.
What threatens the owner of a car diesel unit changed? For the moment portfolio. And if they ever be detected irregularities in the approval, the responsibility would fall only on the manufacturer. Also no problem, at least for now, for permission to enter the LTZ and circulate during traffic jams: to faith is the fact that the classification appears on the registration certificate. The car is formally meets the requirements of the law, will be the builder to commit quickly to provide lists of offending car, to recall them for free updates to the software.
transition within the German company , meanwhile, has a corollary company. Suzuki has definitely put a lid on the alliance, never took off, with Volkswagen for hybrid and electric cars. The Japanese company has announced that it has sold the remaining share of Volkswagen shares in its possession: Porsche has bought back 1.5%, rising to 52.2% of capital. It is a divorce that follows the inability to start collaboration on new cars, which was also influenced by Fca: the Nissan has decided to cooperate with the Lingotto on diesel and that move has never gone down at the top of Vw .
The reorganization of the company in Wolfsburg also involves other brands of the group: Luca de Meo , in September 2012 board member of Audi AG with responsibility for marketing and sales, will from next November, the new CEO of the Seat. The Milanese, replaces Juergen Stackmann, passing the Volkswagen as vice president of sales, marketing and after sales. In 2002, de Meo had joined the Fiat Group as vice president business unit Lancia, until his appointment in 2004 as CEO of Fiat Automobiles and CEO of Abarth & amp; C. At these charges was added in 2007 to CEO of Alfa Romeo Automobiles. That same year de Meo has been appointed Group Executive Vice President Marketing, and member of the Group Board, a position he held for two years. In 2009 the transition to Volkswagen as head of marketing for the brand first and then for the Group. In 2012 the position currently held at the top in Audi AG, the first time for an Italian.
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