VW CO2 problems disappear in a puff of smoke

A magical solution that would make Houdini proud:

Volkswagen tells us that the internal testing of CO2 emissions issues on their European range has come to an end, the conclusion being that… there really isn’t a problem!

Volkswagen announced a few weeks ago that they had discovered a fix for the fiddled NOx emissions on their cars in Europe, which basically boiled down to being a quick software update and a wad of plastic mesh to adjust the air flow; a total cost of about 15 cents.

The question that immediately jumps to the fore is: if the VW emissions fix can be so simply done, why did VW ever employ a defeat device in the first place? However, if the magic fix is accepted by EU regulators, VW will have escaped by the skin of their teeth. Well at least in terms of the cost of putting their cars right.

It would now appear that VW have pulled another rabbit out of the hat as they declare that the CO2 emissions on the 800,000 European cars, which they claimed were wrongly stated, actually aren’t. Well, not the vast majority anyway.

In reality, if there is such a thing anymore, just 36,000 cars have been found by VW to have wrongly stated emissions, (not even 5 per cent of the original number).Moreover, VW say the errors are so small that they are too insignificant to worry about and wouldn’t need adapting.

The real conjuring trick is that, as a result, VW are now palming the €2 billion they’d set aside to deal with it back into their Top Hat. Et Voilà, NOx emissions solved for 15 cents and a software flash, and CO2 problems disappearing in to thin air. Genius.