Volkswagen denies it fitted defeat devices into second engine model

Leaked documents suggest software fitted to detect if exhaust test being carried out

Angela Merkel tours the Frankfurt motor show on Thursday. Photograph: Getty

Angela Merkel tours the Frankfurt motor show on Thursday. Photograph: Getty

German chancellor Angela Merkel has said the German car industry faces a “Herculean task” in its transition to e-mobility, hours after fresh claims that Volkswagen built defeat devices into a second diesel engine model. After touring the stands at Frankfurt’s international motor show, including close inspection of the new electric models from Porsche, its parent company VW denied that cars with an engine from 2012 onwards had software that detected if exhaust tests were being carried out.

“We are no long facing radical change, it is already reality,” she said, praising German manufacturers for pulling together to produce affordable, market-ready models. “But it shows that trust in electromobility has to grow with customers.”

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