About: Volkswagen
Germany blocks ‘Dieselgate’ investigation in France
Three French investigative judges have complained about the lack of collaboration from the German judiciary in the ‘Dieselgate’ file. Germany meanwhile alleged possible disruptions of its own investigation. An article from our partner Ouest-France.
Volkswagen makes €15bn bet on electric cars in China
Car giant Volkswagen announced Tuesday (24 April) investments of €15 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles in China by 2022. In Europe, meanwhile, carmakers are resisting plans for a mass-scale roll-out of electric vehicles.
EU clears path for collective law suits
Consumers will be able to sue companies in collective action lawsuits spanning multiple EU countries, under a new European Commission proposal.
EU plans to pull ‘free’ digital services under consumer protection rules
EXCLUSIVE / Digital services that collect users’ data, like Facebook and Gmail, will be pulled under EU consumer protection rules as part of a European Commission overhaul due next month. Possible sanctions will be raised to up to 4% of a company's turnover.
Dieselgate – 35 million manipulated cars on our streets and still no action
Despite the European Parliament’s Dieselgate inquiry committee, the European Commission is standing by, hiding behind bureaucratic squabbling to avoid taking its responsibilities, write Claude Turmes and Zdzisław Krasnodębski.
Commission urges carmakers to ‘behave more ethically’
The European Union on Monday (5 February) urged carmakers to "behave more ethically" and responsibly, following a scandal over diesel emissions, and revelations of diesel exhaust tests on monkeys and humans.
Germany’s car industry monkey business
The revelation that German carmakers have tested diesel exhaust fumes on monkeys is just the most recent in an appalling catalogue of scandals in which the German auto industry has been embroiled, writes Greg Archer.
VW suspends chief lobbyist over emission tests on monkeys
Germany's scandal-hit auto giant Volkswagen on Tuesday (30 January) suspended its chief lobbyist Thomas Steg as outrage mounted over monkey and human experiments to study the effects of diesel exhaust fumes.
Consumer advocates outraged after top court rejects class action lawsuit against Facebook
Consumer advocates have urged the European Commission to propose legislation allowing for collective EU lawsuits after the bloc’s top court rejected a class action against Facebook on Thursday (25 January).
Agreement close on EU supervision over national car regulators
Despite German opposition, member states have consented to letting Brussels oversee their national car authorities to avoid another Dieselgate. But the oversight could be very light.
Bieńkowska: ‘What we want from Volkswagen is a different approach’
The car sector is keeping EU Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska busy. In an exclusive interview with EURACTIV, the Polish official spoke frankly about carmaker responsibility following the Dieselgate scandal, how to deal with Uber and how Brussels-Warsaw relations might not improve.
Diesel summit takeaway: voluntary retrofits will not stop driving bans in cities
Germany’s diesel summit with car companies this week was a disappointment and does little to cut air pollution, writes Ugo Taddei.
Dieselgate: How and where it all started
German government officials and automakers met in Berlin on Wednesday (2 August) to discuss the future of diesel vehicles, after a nearly two-year saga of scandal spread from Volkswagen to others in the sector. Here's a reminder of how it all started.
Germany’s car bosses bid to head off diesel ban with software patch
Germany's powerful car industry offered Wednesday (2 August) to provide a software upgrade that would cut harmful emissions in 5 million vehicles, but critics cried foul saying it is simply a "stop-gap fix" for a colossal pollution cheating scandal.
EU anti-fraud office send VW probe findings to German prosecutors
The European anti-fraud office that is investigating whether Volkswagen used EU funds and European Investment Bank (EIB) loans to develop devices that cheated emission tests has sent its judicial recommendations to German prosecutors.
Refuting cartel tag, VW says automaker exchanges ‘common’
German car giant Volkswagen, facing allegations that it colluded with fellow automakers on diesel emissions and other issues, insisted on Wednesday (27 July) that technical exchanges between manufacturers were "quite common".
Cartel probe looms over German car industry
German carmakers faced a brewing scandal Monday (24 July) as suspicions grew they colluded illegally for decades, further damaging the industry's image and exposing it to massive financial risks.
Dieselgate scandal still fuming in Europe, more action needed
Europe has not yet reached the bottom of the Dieselgate scandal as "many other brands" besides Volkswagen show too high emissions in real driving conditions, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska warned in a letter to the 28 member states' transport ministers.
EU drafts tougher ‘Dieselgate’ rules to stop cheating
National ministers moved today (29 May) to crack down on emissions cheating after the Volkswagen "Dieselgate" scandal by giving the European Commission more powers to monitor testing and fine automakers.
Are NGOs immune to conflicts of interest?
The EU should keep its interaction with interest groups in check to avoid conflicts of interest. Whether those groups are corporate lobbies or NGOs, the same rules should apply, writes Tamar Kogman.
Rethinking the cost of conventionally fueled road transport
If the human health costs from air pollution were to be accounted and paid for by the fossil car industry, we would see the price tag of conventional cars double, writes Teodora Serafimova.
MEPs reject EU road agency in vote for new post-Dieselgate car approval rules
The European Parliament approved tougher rules for the approval of new cars aimed at avoiding a repeat of the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal but rejected amendments calling for a new, centralised EU road agency to oversee emissions testing.
EU consumer agencies to join forces to press VW over dieselgate scandal
European national consumer agencies plan joint action to seek compensation for Volkswagen drivers who bought emissions-cheating diesel cars on the strength of their green credentials, the European Commission said on Tuesday (7 March).