Volkswagen should be investigated and possibly prosecuted by the Government because of the emissions scandal, according to MPs.
In a report published by the Transport Select Committee today, MPs also criticise the government for being too slow in reacting to VW’s misconduct.
The report says strong action must be taken and proper sanctions enforced against manufacturers to deter similar scandals in the future.
Chair of the Transport Select Committee, Louise Ellman MP, said VW has acted cynically in this 'major scandal' and attacked the Government for not holding the manufacturer to account for its actions.
"UK motorists are being treated with contempt," Ellman told Autocar. "VW will only do what it is forced to do and it seems more concerned by the US authorities.
“There is a real danger that VW will be able to get away with cheating emissions tests in Europe if regulators do not act. Nothing has changed, and until something is done it could happen again."
The committee also accuses VW of acting 'deeply unfairly' by paying compensation to affected owners in the US, but not doing so in the UK. It calls upon regulators to ensure that UK owners are not out of pocket as a result of VW’s technical solution.
Ellman continued: “We are concerned that VW’s fix was developed at the lowest possible cost which might lead to increased costs for motorists down the line. We have called upon the Vehicle Certification Agency to do everything in its power to ensure that does not happen.”
VW responded with a statement, saying: "At Volkswagen, our customers are our priority, so we are working hard to deliver technical measures for the affected vehicles in the UK. We have contacted all affected customers, with around 200,000 now informed that their model should be brought into their nearest retailer to receive the technical measures, which take between 30 and 60 minutes of workshop time, according to model, and are of course free of charge.
"Close to 50,000 vehicles in the UK have now received the technical measure, a number which will continue to increase as further vehicles’ technical measures are developed, rigorously tested and then approved by the relevant transport authorities."
"The regulation system has to change so it is independent," Ellman said.
The EU is seeking to improve the regulations that set the rules for type approval, but the Transport Select Committee says that those reforms do not go far enough.
'Real driving emissions tests’ are set to be introduced from September 2017, as well as stricter lab tests for measuring fuel consumption. However, the committee was disappointed that legal emissions limits were not set lower and sooner, after scientific evidence showed dangerous NOx emissions could be cut faster.
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Boycott
Premature emissions
ralphsmall wrote:
You write absolute sense, Ralph, the cars are no different than they were before the story broke. They are working just the same and are not suddenly using more fuel than they had been due to the reports in the media. Nobody seriously expects to get the same fuel economy as the official figures, and there had previously been no more complaints about the margin of error from VW owners than any other manufacturer. For anybody who was satisfied with their car prior to the story, there is no need to be dissatisfied now. Any difference in emissions to what had been indicated in the official tests is tiny compared to the pollution caused by the manufacture of a car, which would have been the same if the customers had bought an alternative make of car, and makes up the majority of the pollution over a car's lifetime.
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Moving forward