Germany's monkey business

Germany's major car-makers have reacted furiously to a New York Times report that they used monkeys to try to prove diesel emissions were harmless.

The report insisted an experiment funded by Volkswagen, Daimler, supplier Robert Bosch and BMW forced 10 monkeys to watch cartoons in an airtight room while breathing in tailpipe fumes from a VW Beetle.

BMW insisted it wasn't involved in the test and called it "repulsive", while Daimler called it "abhorrent" and "superfluous".

While two of the three car-makers have distanced themselves from the study, the results of which have never been published, Volkswagen has apologised for its part in the test.

"We apologise for the misconduct and the lack of judgment of individuals," Volkswagen said in a statement.

"We're convinced the scientific methods chosen then were wrong. It would have been better to do without such a study in the first place.

"[The] Volkswagen Group explicitly distances itself from all forms of animal cruelty. Animal testing contradicts our own ethical standards," said a Volkswagen statement released on the weekend.

"We ask forgiveness for this bad behavior and for the poor judgment of some individuals.

"We are convinced that the scientific methods chosen at the time were wrong. It would have been better to forgo such a test from the very beginning."

However, sources have advised not to take Volkswagen's comments as admissions that it drove the experiments, but rather that it is in maximum-apology mode in the years post-Dieselgate.

The test was commissioned in 2014 by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a group founded in 2007 and entirely funded by the three car-makers.

Though the EUGT was wound up in June 2017, its intention was to defend the use of diesel in passenger cars, particularly for the North American market. Its results were to serve as a counterpoint to the World Health Organisation's 2012 classification of diesel as a carcinogen.

It commissioned the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in New Mexico to design and conduct the experiment, according to the New York Times. The only saving grace for the monkeys involved was that the Beetle chosen was fitted with the emissions-cheating Dieselgate software that worked at its best in laboratory conditions.

In a statement, BMW insisted it does not experiment on animals and had no direct role in the test.

"The BMW Group in no way influenced the design or methodology of studies carried out on behalf of the EUGT," it insisted.

For its part, Daimler had begun an internal review to find out how the experiment was commissioned and whether Daimler personnel were involved in the decision.

"Daimler does not tolerate or support unethical treatment of animals," it said in a statement.