Photo: Volkswagen
Life must seem like a never-ending downwards spiral for Volkswagen lately, with more and more accusations coming each week following EPA’s discovery of the defeat device in some of the company’s TDI engine equipped models.
What happened in September was the first and the biggest blow to Europe’s largest car manufacturer so far, but several other issues have arisen since. Among them was Volkswagen’s own admittance of understating the CO2 emission levels of 800,000 of its cars, a lot of which were sold on the company’s domestic market.
German prosecutors are now launching an investigation into suspected tax evasion, analysing whether the government has received the full amount of the required automotive taxes given Volkswagen’s deceitfully lower CO2 numbers.
If this doesn’t make sense to some people outside Germany is because not all countries calculate yearly taxes based on CO2 emission, but the Germans do, and they use the numbers provided by manufacturers to calculate the quotas. By providing lower than real figures, Volkswagen has basically cut off a portion of the taxes the German government was entitled to.
The prosecutors in Brunswick, which is located near the main headquarters of the Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg, told Automotive News Europe that they calculated the possible damage caused by the false CO2 emission numbers and concluded that it was “not insignificant.”
Earlier this month, upon admitting to the CO2 emissions scheme involving 800,000 of its vehicles, Volkswagen said that compensations to customers and other costs could account for up to two billion euros ($2.13 billion). It’s not clear whether they were cautious enough to include this tax evasion accusation in that number or not, but it’s pretty clear the next few years are going to be tough for Volkswagen, as all eyes are on it.
And not just eyes. Last month, the same German investigators raided the company’s headquarters following the dieselgate scandal looking for more incriminating probes in the ongoing case.
One thing is certain: whatever happened in the past, Volkswagen can’t afford to take one false step in the future, as it would cripple its image for good. We’ll keep you posted as the situation develops.
German prosecutors are now launching an investigation into suspected tax evasion, analysing whether the government has received the full amount of the required automotive taxes given Volkswagen’s deceitfully lower CO2 numbers.
If this doesn’t make sense to some people outside Germany is because not all countries calculate yearly taxes based on CO2 emission, but the Germans do, and they use the numbers provided by manufacturers to calculate the quotas. By providing lower than real figures, Volkswagen has basically cut off a portion of the taxes the German government was entitled to.
The prosecutors in Brunswick, which is located near the main headquarters of the Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg, told Automotive News Europe that they calculated the possible damage caused by the false CO2 emission numbers and concluded that it was “not insignificant.”
Earlier this month, upon admitting to the CO2 emissions scheme involving 800,000 of its vehicles, Volkswagen said that compensations to customers and other costs could account for up to two billion euros ($2.13 billion). It’s not clear whether they were cautious enough to include this tax evasion accusation in that number or not, but it’s pretty clear the next few years are going to be tough for Volkswagen, as all eyes are on it.
And not just eyes. Last month, the same German investigators raided the company’s headquarters following the dieselgate scandal looking for more incriminating probes in the ongoing case.
One thing is certain: whatever happened in the past, Volkswagen can’t afford to take one false step in the future, as it would cripple its image for good. We’ll keep you posted as the situation develops.
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