BRITAIN is to re-test cars in the UK to check their laboratory results match those experienced by motorists on the road after the Volkswagen emissions scandal widened to Europe.
The Department for Transport stepped in after the European Union urged member countries to carry out their own investigations into whether Volkswagen or other car manufacturers used cheat software to make it appear under lab conditions diesel cars complied with strict emissions regulations. Once on the road they produced excessive pollution.
Volkswagen has admitted the technology was present in 482,000 diesel cars in emissions tests in the US, with 11 million vehicles worldwide fitted with the equipment. The scandal has already cost chief executive Martin Winterkorn his job and prosecutions may follow against employees.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin yesterday said the Government was taking the "unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously".
He added: "We have called on the EU to conduct a Europe-wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with defeat devices.
"In the meantime we are taking robust action. The Vehicle Certification Agency, the UK regulator, is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry wide.
"As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions."
Earlier, the EU said in a statement it was inviting all member states to carry out their own tests in order to establish a 'full picture' of exactly how many vehicles registered in its countries were fitted with the banned defeat devices.
The Wolfsburg-based firm is expected to announce which brands and models could be affected and the next steps to be taken by the company and drivers.
Volkswagen has aside 6.5 billion euro (£4.8 billion) to cover the costs of the scandal.
The company has told officials that the vehicles in question included cars with 1.6-litre and 2-litre diesel engines in Europe, German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
"We don't yet have figures for how many of these 11 million cars that are apparently affected are in Europe," Mr Dobrindt said. "That will be cleared up in the next few days."
Authorities will continue working with Volkswagen to determine which cars exactly are involved.
It is not yet clear to what extent the scandal affects other brands in the Volkswagen Group, which has 12 brands in all - including Seat, Audi, Skoda and Porsche. It was also not clear whether the software would have led to Volkswagen cheating on emissions tests outside the US as well.
Mr Dobrindt this week set up a commission of inquiry to look into the scandal. The motor transport authority is conducting static and road tests on Volkswagen models and spot tests on cars made by other manufacturers, German and foreign.
Olaf Lies, economy and transport minister of Volkswagen's home state Lower Saxony, which holds a 20 per cent stake in the company, said the investigation into the scandal was only just starting.
"There must be people responsible for allowing the manipulation of emission levels to happen," he told rbb-Inforadio.
Mr Winterkorn said on Wednesday he took responsibility for the "irregularities" found by US inspectors in Volkswagen's diesel engines, but insisted he had personally done nothing wrong.
Volkswagen is filing a criminal complaint with German prosecutors, seeking to identify those responsible for any illegal actions in connection with the scandal.
BMW's shares fell 5.2 per cent after Germany's Auto Bild magazine reported that road tests by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) showed the BMW X3 xdrive model exceeding European emissions limits by more than 11 times. It did not say what the cause for the alleged problem was.
BMW said in a statement that it was not familiar with the test and would ask the ICCT for clarification. The Munich-based firm stated it "does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests".
France is carrying out random tests of around 100 French models to ensure they meet pollution standards.
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