Shoes drop in diesel debacle: In the EU, BMW X3 worse than Passat, other cars affected, more heads to roll
September 24, 2015 By Bertel Schmitt
If Volkswagen’s diesel debacle causes such an uproar in mostly diesel-disinclined America, what would be the effect of cheating found in Europe, where half of the cars run on oil? We are about to find out. Volkswagen’s cheaters are on Europe’s roads, and assumed clean BMW finds itself dirty.
Germany’s Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt said today, investigators dispatched to Wolfsburg were told that manipulated diesel-VWs have been sold in European markets. “We have been informed that also in Europe, vehicles with 1.6 and 2.0 liter diesel engines are affected by the manipulations that are being talked about,” Dobrindt told Reuters. Details are still being researched. However, it is a safe bet that the number is vastly higher than the 500,000 cheater diesels in the U.S. Most of the 11 million globally affected VWs most likely were sold in Europe. The minister said that cars will be re-checked for compliance, and that the checks will be extended to other brand than those of Volkswagen, says Der Spiegel.
Germany’s hard-hitting AUTO BILD meanwhile reports that in a real-world road test, BMW’s X3 x drive produced NOx eleven times higher than the Euro 6 norm. This is much worse than the scandal-ridden Passat in the US. A BMW spokesman denied the existence of any defeat devices. “BMW’s have no function to identify emissions testing,” the spokesman said. BMW was previously assumed to be unaffected by the spreading scandal. Stock site Seekingalpha recommended yesterday night to buy BMW, because “BMW’s cars are clean.” This morning, BMW shares fell 7 percent...