LONDON: Volkswagen deserves to suffer “substantial damage” because of the diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the carmaker and affected 11m vehicles worldwide, the British transport secretary has told MPs.
Patrick McLoughlin was speaking after the head of VW’s UK operation apologised for the furore and warned that one-in-three of the VW vehicles due to be recalled in Britain required significant hardware repairs which might not be completed by the end of 2016.
They have behaved in an appalling way,” McLoughlin told the Commons transport select committee on Monday. Referring to VW’s use of so-called defeat devices to cheat emissions tests, he added: “These devices were made illegal in 1998 and it is unbelievable to think a company the size and reputation of VW have been doing something like this. They are going to suffer very substantial damage as a result and they deserve to.”
He said that it drew question about reviewing testing of emissions, “and that’s exactly what we are going to be doing”. He said the UK had led Europe in calling for real-world testing.
McLoughlin said he did not rule out taking action against VW in the UK, noting that deception in testing conducted by the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency could leave manufacturers open to prosecution. But he defended the wider industry: “I don’t think we should condemn the whole industry because of one player.” He said he was satisfied that no other companies were involved, after receiving assurances.
“I would not expect any reputable companies to deliberately mislead once they’ve been asked the specific question,” he said.
McLoughlin added: “We’re talking about an industry that’s very important, I’m determined to work with the industry, not against the industry. We’re in the very early stages of the VW investigation.”
