VW scandal: UK to launch emissions investigation

The UK is to start its own inquiry into vehicle emissions testing following the Volkswagen scandal in the US. The Vehicle Certification Agency, part of the Department for Transport, will […]

The UK is to start its own inquiry into vehicle emissions testing following the Volkswagen scandal in the US.

The Vehicle Certification Agency, part of the Department for Transport, will work with manufacturers to re-run tests.

It comes as Volkswagen, whose Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn has resigned, admitted to using a software which allowed cars to pass stringent environmental checks.

Around 11 million cars are said to have been affected worldwide.

The car manufacturer is setting aside €6.5 billion (£4.7 billion) to cover the costs of fixing the cars to comply with pollution standards.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “My priority is to protect the public as we go through the process of investigating what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again in the future.

“In the meantime we are taking robust action. The Vehicle Certification Agency, the UK regulator, is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry wide.

“As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions.”

He also urged the European Commission to start an EU-wide probe however a spokesperson told ELN it doesn’t have the powers to do so but is encouraging all Member States to carry out their investigations and report back.

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