VW Defeat Device: Bosch WARNED VW it was only for 'Testing' purposes

VW Defeat Device: Bosch WARNED VW it was only for ‘Testing’ purposes

Bosch supplied the ‘Defeat Device’ software that allowed VW to scam emissions tests, but warned VW in 2007 it was only for ‘testing’ purposes.

Most of last week’s car news headlines were wrapped up in the ‘Defeat Device’ scandal, and it looks like this week will follow in the same vein as more revelations surface about exactly how deep-rooted the deceit was at VW.

The German media has been digging furiously to get an angle on the story, and Bild has come up with the revelation that the software to implement the scam was supplied by Bosch, but that Bosch warned VW in 2007 that it could only be used for testing purposes, and that it would be illegal to fit it to production cars. Of course, you could ask why was it created at all?

In another titbit from Germany, FAZ‘s Sunday edition claims that one of VW’s own engineers warned VW management in 2011 that the device was illegal, despite which they carried on using it.

In the coming days VW are expected to announce the ‘fix’ for the affected cars, but it’s likely to be a costly one, and one that has implications not just for emissions, but also for the performance and economy of cars which are fixed.

With the news that it seems likely affected cars will not just be VWs, but also Audi, SEAT and Skoda too – with the 1.2, 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0 litre TDI engines now all in the frame, as well as a distinct possibility the 3.0 litre V6 TDI used by Porsche was also using the defeat device – there’s a lot more to come.