The company has continued to blame a small group of employees, though its characterization of the individuals has shifted slightly. No longer describing them as ‘rogue‘ workers, the automaker now acknowledges that their illegal actions were overlooked due to a higher-reaching culture that ‘tolerated’ such improprieties.
“There was not one single mistake, but rather a chain of errors that was never broken,” said VW chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said today at a press conference in Wolfsburg.
Echoing earlier comments and leaks, the executive suggests the team tasked with developing the EA 189 diesel engine “simply couldn’t find a way to meet tougher US NOx limits by permissible means.” He also admitted that budget and time constraints contributed to their decision to employ a ‘defeat’ device rather than delay or scrap the launch.
The company has promised to implement new process controls that will help monitor compliance and better track employee actions.
In the meantime, the German automaker still must bring existing vehicles back into compliance. Notably, the company is still hesitant to disclose its plan for offending vehicles sold in the US market, where NOx limits are much tighter than in Europe.
“Retrofitting the vehicles [in the US] to meet valid emissions limits is quite simply a much bigger technical challenge,” said VW chief Matthias Mueller.
The executive claimed that significant progress is being made with the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board, however the company will not publicly announce its solution until the proposal has has been accepted by both agencies.
Leave a Reply