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French tests confirm Volkswagen cheated again on pollution

According to first tests conducted in France on cars from a number of automakers, it has been revealed that Volkswagen cheated on their emissions.

Diesel engines.
Diesel engines. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
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“Of the 10 vehicles of all brands that we’ve tested so far, we’ve seen that with Volskwagen vehicles there are nitrogen oxide levels five times the legal limit, thus confirming cheating”, Environment Minister Ségolène Royal said on France Info radio on Friday.

On diesel vehicles from other automakers, Royal said “they were also above the legal limit but still in line with differences to be expected between lab and real-life tests.

France began a series tests on 1 October, two weeks after the pollution cheating scandal that has rocked Volkswagen, to detect possible other pollution frauds, as more than one million Volkswagen cheated vehicles are powered in the country.

“A comprehensive test will be ready by the end of November”, said Royal, a test that will be used for checks on around 100 models of vehicles sold in France.

The pollution cheating scandal broke in September and Volkswagen admitted that some 11 millions diesel cars worldwide were fitted with devices to fool normal pollution tests.

The giant automaker group with 12 brands (VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche…) has since recorded a 10 per cent drop in sales in the UK and 40 per cent drop off its market capitalisation.

But the scandal has spread beyond diesel, it highlights that European approval and certification procedures are inadequate and outdated.

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