Dieselgate isn’t over

Volkswagen may not be the only company with an emissions scandal on its hands. Looks like other automakers may be fibbing too. Europe has strict emissions laws, and after the VW debacle, it decided to look at other brands’ claims as well.

Volkswagen paid out approximately $25 billion in fines, penalties and restitutions for cheating on its emissions, and that was just in the US. It paid an additional $1.2 billion in Germany. As of January, there is also the equivalent of a class action suit in Germany against the automaker. Anyone who bought a vehicle with the emissions-duping software can sue.

In April of this year, Germany officially charged Martin Winterkorn, the former CEO of VW, for his involvement in Volkswagen’s deception back in 2014.

The Chevrolet Cruze’s Zafira Tourer 1.6-liter diesel engine was mentioned in a recent report as having 9.5 times higher emissions than was claimed.  It’s surprising that Chevy would push the limits after the 2017 class action suit against the automaker for cheating on its diesel truck emissions.

So what does this report mean? We aren’t sure yet. But, it looks like there are more discoveries of illegal acts regarding diesel and emissions in Europe.

In April, the European Commission officially accused BMW, Daimler and VW of collusion. The three automakers were supposedly working together to create the best technology to reduce emissions, which is fine and legal. But, they’re being accused of colluding to not improve technology at all but to avoid competition.

It seems as though the story may never end! Will we ever find an emissions solution that fits the law? We’re hoping so.

Looking for more info on this? Here’s a full timeline going back to 2007.