Photo: Der Spiegel
The first head rolled on Tuesday in what is poised to become yet another scandal involving German automaker Volkswagen. The company announced today its decision to suspend Thomas Steg, General Representative of the Volkswagen Group, for the duration of an investigation started into an experiment conducted in 2014 in the United States.
"We are currently in the process of investigating the work of the EUGT, which was dissolved in 2017, and drawing all the necessary consequences. Mr. Steg has declared that he will assume full responsibility. I respect his decision," said the CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Matthias Müller, in a statement released by the automaker.
The experiment was revealed by The New York Times, citing court statements from an ongoing lawsuit brought against Volkswagen in the U.S. Apparently, VW, through the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector, commissioned the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute to conduct an experiment on 10 macaque monkeys.
The goal of the experiment, whose findings were never made public, was to debunk a World Health Organization 2012 report that classified diesel exhaust as a carcinogen. The 10 monkeys were enclosed in sealed chambers and fed diesel exhaust four four hours, while they watched cartoons.
To get the desired results, Volkswagen is accused of rigging the Beetle in such a way that nitrogen dioxide (linked, among other things, to heart attacks and lung cancer) was only a fraction of what it usually is during normal driving.
On Monday, VW said explicitly distances itself from all forms of animal cruelty, as “animal testing contradicts our own ethical standards."
The experiment has been commissioned by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector, a group that shut down last year and also included Daimler and BMW. Daimler also announced the start of an investigation into the matter.
The experiment was revealed by The New York Times, citing court statements from an ongoing lawsuit brought against Volkswagen in the U.S. Apparently, VW, through the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector, commissioned the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute to conduct an experiment on 10 macaque monkeys.
The goal of the experiment, whose findings were never made public, was to debunk a World Health Organization 2012 report that classified diesel exhaust as a carcinogen. The 10 monkeys were enclosed in sealed chambers and fed diesel exhaust four four hours, while they watched cartoons.
To get the desired results, Volkswagen is accused of rigging the Beetle in such a way that nitrogen dioxide (linked, among other things, to heart attacks and lung cancer) was only a fraction of what it usually is during normal driving.
On Monday, VW said explicitly distances itself from all forms of animal cruelty, as “animal testing contradicts our own ethical standards."
The experiment has been commissioned by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector, a group that shut down last year and also included Daimler and BMW. Daimler also announced the start of an investigation into the matter.
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