EPA to Volkswagen: Recall 482,000 Diesel Cars Sold in US 2009 to 2015

Summary: A Volkswagen recall ordered in September 2015 by US Environmental Protection Agency concerns 482,000 diesel cars sold in US with defeat device software.

2009 VW Golf TDI, now under recall, at 2010 Washington Auto Show, Walter E. Washington, Convention Center, downtown Washington DC; Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, 20:00: Mariordo Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

On Friday, Sept. 18, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed German automaker Volkswagen (VW) to recall roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States between 2009 and 2015 with illegally installed software.

Known as a defeat device, the stealthy software turns on full emissions control systems during periodic state emissions testing in order to conceal emission of pollutant nitrogen oxide, a contributor to ozone and smog and a factor in such health conditions as asthma and other respiratory diseases. With controls disengaged for normal driving situations, the diesel-fueled vehicles exhibit improved performance, especially with acceleration and torque (rotation), while also fouling the air with pollutants at a level as much as 40 times the allowable amount under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The recall affects diesel-fueled vehicles sold in the United States between 2009 and 2015. Totaling roughly 482,000 vehicles, the recall pertains to: Audi A3, 2009–2015; Beetle, 2009–2015; Golf, 2009–2015; Jetta, 2009–2015; and Passat, 2014–2015.

Within the next year, Volkswagen is required to send recall notices to owners of affected vehicles and to provide repairs at no cost to vehicle owners.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices also in San Francisco, California, and Berlin, Germany, the international Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is an independent, non-profit environmental think tank focused on reducing climate change and benefiting public health through improved energy efficiency and environmental performance of air, road and marine transportation. Cars and trucks are responsible for nearly one-fifth of all global-warming emissions in the United States. The transportation sector, which includes planes, ships and trains as well as cars and trucks, accounts for almost 30 percent of all global-warming emissions in the United States.

While researching diesel vehicles, the ICCT discovered emission discrepancies between laboratory and road tests on Volkswagen cars. Upon notification of the discrepancies, the Environmental Protection Agency conducted tests which led to identification of the defeat device software.

The EPA is conducting ongoing investigations into the illegal software in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Established in 1967 as a department within the California Environmental Protection Agency, CARB has issued a separate notice of violation to Volkswagen.

Findings of the Justice Department could lead to fines or penalties for Volkswagen. Under the Clean Air Act, automakers may receive maximum fines of $37,500 per recalled vehicle. Pursuant to the investigation, Volkswagen could face a possible total fine of over $18 billion ($37,500 x 482,000 vehicles = $18,075,000,000).

As Charles Dickens (Feb. 7, 1812–June 9, 1870) aptly and timelessly noted in the opening words of his historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities (1859):

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . .”

2015 may have seemed like the best of times for Volkswagen as the automaker achieved its mammoth goal, set in 2007 and targeted for 2018, of becoming the world’s largest automaker. Grasping the worldwide sales pinnacle three years ahead of goal, Volkswagen closed the six month period of January through June 2015 with sales of 5.04 million, thereby besting Toyota’s sales of 5.02 million.

Volkswagen’s moneyed report at the end of July 2015 is now overshadowed, 1.5 months later, by the worst-of-times announcement of the EPA-ordered recall for alleged, intentional violation of the Clean Air Act. Since 2007, Audi USA has inspired consumer confidence with its promising slogan, Truth in Engineering, which may seem stale to disheartened owners of Audi A3 recall vehicles.

More than the possibility of hefty fines, the erosion in consumer confidence -- at least in the United States, if not throughout the world -- is priceless.

Four-ringed logo of Volkswagen’s Audi, one of world’s luxury automobile bestsellers; sold since 2007 in US with slogan "Truth in Engineering"; Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014, 16:48:16: Juste Remi (juste.remi), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

2009 VW Golf TDI, now under recall, at 2010 Washington Auto Show, Walter E. Washington, Convention Center, downtown Washington DC; Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, 20:00: Mariordo Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VW_Golf_TDI_Clean_Diesel_WAS_2010_8983.JPG

Four-ringed logo of Volkswagen’s Audi, one of world’s luxury automobile bestsellers; sold since 2007 in US with slogan "Truth in Engineering"; Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014, 16:48:16: Juste Remi (juste.remi), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/juste-remi/15510552454/

For further information:

Davenport, Coral, and Jack Ewing. “VW Is Said to Cheat on Diesel Emissions; U.S. to Order Big Recall.” The New York Times > Business Day. Sept. 18, 2015.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/business/volkswagen-is-ordered-to-recall-nearly-500000-vehicles-over-emissions-software.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone

Trudell, Craig, and masatsugu horie. “VW Passes Toyorta to Lead Global Sales in First Half of 2015.” BloombergBusiness > News. July 28, 2015.
Available @ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-28/vw-overtakes-toyota-for-global-sales-lead-in-first-half