German public prosecutors raided the Wolfsburg headquarters of Volkswagen in the latest investigation into the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal on Tuesday.
Prosecutors stated investigators intended to confiscate documents. Volkswagen, which admitted in 2015 to cheating U.S. emissions tests on diesel engines, said it was absolutely cooperating with the authorities, but consider the investigation as unfounded.
Volkswagen stated the raids were associated with an investigation into diesel cars with engine type EA 288, a successor model to the EA 189 which was at the heart of the emissions cheating scandal.
The automaker stated it had itself revealed the issue at the center of the recent investigation – which is targeting individual employees – to the relevant registration officials.
In simulations, vehicles with the EA 288 engine did not show a failure of the diesel filter, while still adhering to emissions limits, Volkswagen stated, adding the engine did not have an unlawful defeat device.
In 2015, it was revealed that Volkswagen had used such devices to cheat emissions tests. Until now it has cost the company about 30 billion euros ($33 billion) in fines, vehicle refits, and legal expenses, and also triggered a global backlash against other automakers that have produced diesel vehicles.
Volkswagen stated when the scandal broke that about 11 million vehicles were fitted with the prohibited software globally.
