Report: Volkswagen Knew About Excessive Fuel Consumption A Year Ago

According to a latest report from Bild am Sonntag, top executives of the German auto giant Volkswagen knew a year ago that some of its cars were noticeably less fuel efficient than had been officially stated, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, the company admitted that it had understated the level of carbon dioxide emissions and fuel usage in about 800,000 cars sold mainly in Europe. Initially the scandal brought to light “cheating software” on some eleven million diesel vehicles worldwide (admitted to U.S. regulators by the company), which enabled its car to detect when they were being tested and alter the running of their diesel engines to conceal their true emissions.

Sources close to former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn told the Bild am Sonntag that after months of becoming aware of excessive fuel consumption, Winterkorn decided this spring to pull one model off the market where the discrepancy was particularly marked, the Polo TDI BlueMotion. Low sales figures were stated as the reason behind the withdrawal at the time, as reported by Reuters.

Reuters quoted VW spokesman reaffirming the previously cited reason for the withdrawal: "The offering of the Blue Motion TDI Polo was suspended in all markets due to subdued demand. We are currently testing all models built from 2012 for differences in CO2 levels from the listed values."

However, the Bild am Sonntag pointed out Volkswagen did not inform the owners of Polo TDI BlueMotion about the high fuel consumption, which was 18 percent above the officially stated value. Reuters said that the Bild am Sonntag did not cite its sources for saying that top executives knew about the fuel usage problem a year ago.