Questions about the Volkswagen Scandal:

Volkswagen is embroiled in one of the biggest corporate scandals of recent years.
The German car maker has been installing “defeat devices “– software that allows cars to cheat in emission tests, making them appear than they actually are.

What is Volkswagen accused of?
Volkswagen’s software allowed it to beat the tests in a lab, but when on the road with emissions controls switched off, cars would pump out nitrogen oxide (NOx) at up to 40 times the legal limit.
Crucially, the software “knew” when it was being tested, allowing it to switch emissions controls on and off.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested. The EPA’s findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW- manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat.

Who is to blame?
It’s not yet clear who is responsible for fitting the cheating software. Martin Winterkorn, the German company’s chief executive, accepted responsibility when he resigned, but denied any wrongdoing on his part. Prosecutors in Germany have opened a criminal probe into Mr. Winterkorn. Mr. Winterkorn is replaced by Matthias Mueller, the boss Porsche.
Where did the incident happen and why did Mr. Winterkorn resign?
This scandal has happened in the United States of America. Mr. Winterkorn denied having any knowledge of the emissions cheating when he resigned. He has announced that he has not aware of any wrongdoing on his part. He also said that the process of clarification and transparency must continue and it’s the only way to win back trust. He is also convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis.

When did the scandal happen?
The scandal happened when it was revealed that VW diesel vehicles sold worldwide have been fitted with devices that can switch on pollution controls when they detect the car is undergoing testing. The sale of some VW and Audi cars was suspended in Australia.

How many cars were affected by the scandal?
There were about 11 million VW diesel cars potentially affected. There are 2.8 million cars in Germany itself, half of the company’s sales in Europe – VW’s biggest market. The carmaker’s shares are down 30% since the scandal broke.
There were more than 91,000 vehicles in Australia were affected more than two weeks after the global scandal broke. On Wednesday, there were 54,745 cars, 17,256 commercial vehicles and 5,148 Skoda vehicles were affected in Australia. 14,028 vehicles sold of Audi between the year 2008 and 2015 were also fitted with the devices, bringing the total to 91,177.

Why did Volkswagen cheat in the first place?
Since 2009, however, things have changed. The Obama administration has been ratcheting up fuel economy standards in the United States, which puts a higher premium on mileage. At the same time, diesel technology has been gradually getting cleaner through a combination of lower-sulfur fuel, advanced engines, and new emission-control technology. So automakers have shown a renewed interest in "clean diesel" cars that, in theory, don't suffer from that trade-off between performance and pollution. Since 2009, Volkswagen has sold more than 482,000 clean diesel cars containing a four-cylinder turbocharged direct injection engine. This included versions of the Passat, Jetta, Golf, Beetle, and Audi's A3. Except, as it turns out, VW was lying about its clean diesel cars.

Volkswagen hasn't explained exactly why it cheated, but outside analysts have a good guess. The NOx emission controls likely degraded the cars' performance when they were switched on. The engines ran hotter, wore out more quickly, and got poorer mileage.

Why did Volkswagen do it?
For years, millions of Volkswagen’s diesel cars contained software that turned their pollution controls on only when the cars were being tested by regulators. This means that, since 2009, Volkswagen’s diesel cars have been emitting pollutants into the atmosphere at levels much higher than permitted standards. Volkswagen hasn’t answered this question. The most likely answer is that the pollution controls probably had a negative impact on the car’s overall durability.

Why didn’t the EPA’s own tests catch Volkswagen?
The EPA was the agency that got Volkswagen to confess to cheating but the EPA wasn’t the agency that figured out that the cheating was happening in the first place.

Why is Mr. Winterkorn blamed?
Prosecutors in Germany have opened a criminal investigation into former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal which has engulfed the German auto giant. The investigation aims to establish who was responsible and will look at Mr Winterkorn's role in the worst crisis to hit VW in its 78-year history, according to a statement from prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany.

Why is Volkswagen accused?
Volkswagen AG’s crisis over allegedly cheating on U.S. emissions tests deepened, with the German auto maker halting American sales of popular diesel-powered cars. Volkswagen and Audi sold about 482,000 diesel vehicles with illegal emissions control software designed to make their cars appear cleaner in testing than they are in the real world.