The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

In September 2015 the Volkswagen Group was found to have been cheating emissions tests by making it seem that certain cars produced far fewer emissions than was actually the case. The story broke when the US Environmental Agency discovered that many of Volkswagen’s diesel cars emitted up to 40 times more fumes than the permitted limit. They achieved this through the installation of software (known as the ‘defeat device’), which could sense it was running under test conditions and alter its performance accordingly.

Although this issue started with Volkswagen cars in the USA, it has since spread to other brands in other countries and the number of cars affected is thought to be around 11 million.

This infographic cuts through all of the stories and rumours about the scandal to give you the facts about what has happened, the cars affected, what Volkswagen are doing about it, how you can check if your car has the defeat software installed and the effect Volkswagen’s actions have had on the environment and on public health. Of course, part of the issue most discussed in relation to this scandal is the legal ramifications. This infographic looks at this and gives you the most common reasons drivers may be able to make a claim against Volkswagen.

Thanks to selectcarleasing.co.uk for the report.