Evaluations and tests have conducted by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission "suggest that Audi has manipulated the diesel engine of its best-seller A3," Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote today in an exclusive report.
The findings are explosive far beyond Volkswagen: Germany's regulator Kraftfahrtbundesamt also tested Audi's diesel-powered A3, and gave it a clean bill of health - after "apparently omitting crucial tests," the paper writes.
European Union politicians speak of collusion between governments and automakers.
The European Union commission is at loggerheads with European Union member states that seem to protect their car industries instead of enforcing tough European Union emission rules. Last week, the
European Union took formal legal action against seven member states to compel them to uphold the law. Meanwhile, the European Union EU's research arm conducted its own tests that were shared with the
European Union Parliament.
Per the Munich paper, which has the European Union report, the JRC tested the current A3 model, "and found indicators that suggest that die exhaust treatment is being disabled, so-called defeat devices." The A3 is Audi's top-selling car. It received a facelift in May 2016, more than half a year after Volkswagen's dieselgate scandal became public. Germany's Kraftfahrtbundesamt gave the car its highest Euro 6 rating.
Prompted by a board of inquiry of Germany's government, the KBA tested the A3 again and said that "this vehicle complies with the Euro 6 requirements." This after Volkswagen had just formally declared that there are no illegal defeat devices in the vehicle. Says the Sueddeutsche: "The KBA apparently was left out a test which it included with other cars."
"This smells of fraud, even with the latest diesel models," Claude Turmes, a Green Party member of the EU Parliament told the Sueddeutsche, alleging "hanky-panky" between government .regulators, and the auto industry.
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