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That didn't take long. Just 10 days after the first reports that VW had installed so-called defeat-devices on more than half a one thousand thousand US cars (and 11 million vehicles worldwide), Audi and Škoda Auto have both admitted their ain vehicles likewise use the same technology. Škoda is a Czech car manufacturer that provided vehicles to the Eastern Bloc from 1945 to 1989 and became a wholly endemic subsidiary of VW in 2000.

Currently, an estimated 2.i million Audis are estimated to exist afflicted worldwide, including 577,000 in Western Germany and thirteen,000 in the US. Škoda has stated that ane.2 meg of its vehicles are besides impacted, simply has not given a breakdown of models or countries. Affected Audis include the A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5. VW'southward stock price has absolutely tanked in the last two weeks, falling from $169.65 to the current price (as of this writing) of $99.30.

2010 Audi A3 TDI S-line turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 diesel engine

An Audi A3 diesel engine.

The impairment likely isn't over. As nosotros covered already, VW didn't just suspend executives from Audi and itself — it also suspended individuals affiliated with Porsche, the company's flagship make. While Porsche doesn't sell many vehicles per year, its cars are considered some of the most reliable ever built; the Cayman and Boxster made Consumer Reports' 2022 short list as the most reliable cars on the road.

Reports last calendar week flagged the BMW X3 diesel fuel SUV as emitting more than 11x more than pollutants than EU law allows for, though in that location'southward no bear witness that BMW engaged in the same type of adulterous as VW, and BMW has pushed back difficult against the notion that it might be cheating on its tests. Exactly what that ways is subject to considerable debate, since in that location'south evidence that BMW inflates its fuel economic system past truly incredible amounts (again, in the European market place). GM's Opel brand is also implicated in the test results.

Audi1

Audi's widening gyre.

Mercedes has recently stated that it will continue promoting diesel vehicles in Nihon, despite the increased scrutiny existence brought to bear on these vehicles. Information technology intends to sell 10% diesel fuel vehicles in Japan this year, up from last year's 5%. Mercedes claims to take never used defeat devices in any market place, and believes diesel vehicles offer an first-class overall value proposition. It'due south also declared support for the new testing methods being adult by the EPA and its European counterparts.

As for VW, the bad news keeps coming. Germany has demanded that VW submit a binding plan to fix the estimated 11 1000000 broken vehicles past Oct 7. If the company fails to exercise then, the German language government will ban all 2.eight one thousand thousand afflicted cars from driving on its roads. Switzerland has apparently already banned affected cars from being sold either new or used, as has the United States. But banning all VWs from taking to the streets? That's an unprecedented action. Then again, if half the vehicles in the US were diesel fuel, we might see similar action contemplated.