The VW Scandal is Far From Over – According to the U.S. DOJ

If you thought you couldn’t stomach reading more material about this infamous Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal, then get ready to bare down and swallow some more. As if there were already not enough avenues to follow with this debacle between Volkswagen, their CEO, european versus U.S. emissions standards, and so on, the United States Department of Justice decided to stick their noses in the pollution.

As of Monday, January 4, 2016 they issued a statement reading, “The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), today filed a civil complaint in federal court in Detroit, Michigan, against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America Inc., Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations LLC, Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America Inc. (collectively referred to as Volkswagen). The complaint alleges that nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles had illegal defeat devices installed that impair their emission control systems and cause emissions to exceed EPA’s standards, resulting in harmful air pollution.”

The statement goes on explain that VW did this collectively applied to import and subsequently introduced these vehicles into the United States with designs different than those they placed before the EPA and CARB (California Air Resources Board.)

The document also included the following quotes:

“Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission control systems breach the public trust, endanger public health and disadvantage competitors,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation’s clean air laws alleged in the complaint.”

“With today’s filing, we take an important step to protect public health by seeking to hold Volkswagen accountable for any unlawful air pollution, setting us on a path to resolution,” said Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”

“Today’s complaint is the first stage in bringing Volkswagen to justice for failing to disclose the defeat device while seeking certification for its diesel vehicles from EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality in Ann Arbor, Michigan,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade for the Eastern District of Michigan. “The alleged misrepresentations allowed almost 600,000 diesel engines to emit excessive air pollution across the country, harming our health and cheating consumers.”

In the event any of you believe you are affected by this whole situation but are unsure as to weather or not your car is on the list, an official listing has been generated below and separated between the 2.0 and 3.0-liter engines. Aside from the announcement of a fix or resolution for the U.S. vehicles, we believe – or at least we are hoping – that this is the last large movement in this whole debacle. It gives diesel a bad name, and that’s the last thing we need when the technology was really beginning to take off.

Affected 2.0-liter diesel models and model years include: