US accuses VW of poor co-operation

Volkswagen is failing to co-operate sufficiently with a United States investigation into the emissions scandal, according to New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who warned that the authorities' patience was "wearing thin".

Mr Schneiderman said yesterday that VW’s co- operation with a probe involving 47 state attorneys general had been “spotty” and “slow”, adding to the German carmaker’s mounting troubles in the US. On Monday, the US department of justice sued VW in a civil case, seeking at least $45 billion in penalties.

The US authorities’ clash with VW came as the company said its annual sales had fallen last year for the first time in more than a decade. A combination of the emissions scandal and turmoil in emerging markets has taken a toll on Europe’s biggest carmaker, pushing group sales below 10 million units in 2015.

VW admitted in September that it had installed "defeat devices" in up to 11 million cars that served to understate the diesel-powered vehicles' emissions of nitrogen oxides during official tests. An estimated 115,917 cars in Ireland were also fitted with the defeat device software. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016