The latest best selling Audi A3 released excessive toxic diesel emissions in results from lab tests run by the European Commission and seen by Reuters, raising suspicions of wrongdoing at Volkswagen Group’s luxury division.
The results may embroil Audi, the main contributor to VW Group profit, further in the scandal that has engulfed the company since it admitted cheating US emissions tests with software to mask nitrogen oxides (NOx).
The lab tests run by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) in August showed the latest Euro 6 diesel generation A3 emitted 163mg of NOx per km, double the statutory 80mg cap and the difference became apparent only when the engine was warm.
Tested when cold, the emissions were below 80mg cap.