Dieselgate: VW cleared of CO2 scandal

Leaked copies of the initial investigation into the Volkswagen Group's array of cheating scandals have cleared the car maker of claims that it systematically cheated on its claimed CO2 emissions figures.

An internal whistleblower had informed Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller that an array of its cars were claiming "improbably low" CO2 numbers, which had a direct effect on their tax status in most European countries.

However, sources have insisted that the initial investigation report, due to be presented by Müller in Europe today (December 10), will show that Volkswagen's engineering and compliance teams acted within the guidelines for CO2 emissions.

The report will cite combined efforts of investigators from the German Transport Department (KBA), public prosecutors, Volkswagen's own staff investigators and the independent US law firm, Jones Day, which it commissioned to deliver an internal investigation into both the NOx and CO2 scandals.

Nine Volkswagen Group models have been found to have inaccuracies in their CO2 figures under EU6 regulations, but the investigation has found no unlawful activities behind the data.

The nine models, ranging from Volkswagen's 1.0-litre TSI Bluemotion Polo to its 2.0-litre TDI Passat Alltrack (pictured), will be retested by an independent authority in Germany early next year, but have inaccuracies of low single-digit grams of CO2 per km.

Other models include Bluemotion versions of the Jetta, Scirocco, Golf, Golf Convertible and Passat wagon.

The news will come as an enormous boost to the embattled Volkswagen, with 11 million cars affected by its separate four-cylinder diesel NOx emissions-cheating scandal and a newer V6 turbo-diesel default-code cheating scandal.

It means Volkswagen can pocket or redirect the €2 billion it had set aside to compensate owners and national tax offices from the CO2 'cheat', and also effectively closes down a CO2-related tax fraud investigation started weeks ago by the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office.

"The report will state that Volkswagen did not cheat on the CO2 figures," a source insisted.

"The initial investigation report has been leaked, but not by us, and it will show that the investigation has been very thorough and we didn't do anything wrong on CO2 claims.

"Some cars might have to be adjusted a gram one way or the other, but there's nothing significant in that."

The initial CO2 cheat claims, announced in October by Müller, centered around 800,000 Audis, Seats, Skodas and Volkswagen cars and included diesel-powered engines and cylinder-on-demand four-cylinder petrol engines.

It led to Volkswagen being given an ultimatum by the European Commission and into the opening of a criminal investigation by a German public prosecutor. It also forced Volkswagen into high-level negotiations with tax offices around Europe, where officially claimed CO2 figures are used to calculate road tax levels.

"There is a list of adjustments that can be made within the rules for CO2 testing and the investigation found that everything that has been done by Volkswagen is within those rules," a source insisted.

"The cars are initially tested as pre-production cars to arrive at an initial CO2 figure and NEDC figure, then they have to be retested again within six months when the full production models are available. Sometimes the second test gives some cause for adjustments, one way or the other, but it's rarely anything major.

"Of course, it's like Formula 1 in that the rules have many areas which are not precisely written… We have retested all of the cars we could, which involves a lot of engine and gearbox and brand and body style varieties," he said.

Sources insist the report will stop short of naming names for the NOx Dieselgate scandal, however.

"We are still working our way through all of that," a source admitted.

"What we have about that is a roadmap of how the process went and the thinking behind the decision to take Volkswagen's diesel engines this way.

"What we also have is a list of names and timelines and persons of interest, but we would have to be exactly, completely sure of anything before we released those names."

It comes on the back of recent news that Volkswagen's recall on the NOx-affected diesel cars in Europe would cost far less than initially thought and send cars back out of the dealerships within half an hour, with no loss of performance or increase in fuel consumption.

The car maker is still working with the California Air Review Board and the Environmental Protection Agency to deliver fixes for the NOx Dieselgate cars in North America.

"The issues are different and the fixes are different," a source said.

"In Europe, the limit for NOx is 80 milligrams per kilometre. In the US it's 31, and the same limit you have for a petrol engine. That's why the solution is more difficult, technically."