Baqar HussainIncorrect carbon emissions data could mean thousands of cars benefited from unduly low vehicle excise duty
Volkswagen could have to repay billions of pounds of tax credits to European governments after finding “irregularities” in the levels of carbon dioxide emitted by its cars. Shares in the embattled carmaker slumped by 10% on Wednesday, wiping €5bn (£3.5bn) off the value of the company, as analysts warned that the consequences of rigging CO2 and fuel consumption tests could be worse than the initial scandal around diesel emissions tests.
VW has now lost €32.4bn, or 40% of its value, since admitting in September that it installed defeat devices into 11m diesel vehicles. The scandal is dragging down sales of new VW cars, according to industry figures due to be released in Britain on Thursday. Sales data for October from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is expected to show that VW sales fell by more than 8% year-on-year, with Seat and Škoda also down.
The latest admission about CO2 tests dramatically widens the scandal that VOLKSWAGEN is facing.
Germany, Britain and other countries set vehicle tax rates based on their CO2 emissions. This means that if VW artificially lowered CO2 emissions during testing then its vehicles will have contributed far less in tax than they should have.
VW has said that at least 800,000 cars are affected by the CO2 discovery and estimated the “economic risks” at €2bn. This works out at €2,500 per car, far more than the €609 per car put aside for the cost of the 11m cars involved in the diesel emissions scandal, which was €6.7bn in total.
Syed Zaki Hussain
