South Korea will likely examine more vehicle models by German carmaker Volkswagen following the U.S. environment agency’s announcement that some of its larger models were also found to have faked emission results, government officials said Tuesday.
Earlier, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted a notice on its website, alleging that Volkswagen had faked emissions results for 3.0-liter vehicle models.
The models are the 2014 VW Touareg, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne, and the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5.
Volkswagen denied the claim, saying in a statement that it “wishes to emphasize that no software has been installed in the 3-liter V6 diesel power units to alter emissions characteristics in a forbidden manner.”
The notice is the second of its kind issued by the EPA, which stunned the world by announcing in mid-September that Volkswagen used stealthy software to fake emissions results for its 2.0-liter diesel engine vehicles.
Following the first announcement, Volkswagen admitted to the EPA claim immediately.
Since last month, the South Korean government has been conducting its own test to see if the same software was used to fake emissions figures for the cars sold here.
A government official said on condition of anonymity that a similar probe will be carried out into the 3.0-liter models after the ongoing investigation into the 2-liter models is completed by mid-November.
Exact sales numbers for the car models newly added to the investigation list are not available.
Last month, Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of the German carmaker said that around 120,000 vehicles will be subject to a recall here in connection with the emission scandal. (Yonhap)
