KR Launches Investigation After EPA Adds Audi & Porsche to VW Clean Air Act Violation

Today federal regulators announced that additional Volkswagen vehicles, as well as Porsche vehicles, allegedly violate emissions standards. The Environmental Protection Agency’s notice indicates that Volkswagen’s alleged diesel emissions cheating extends well beyond smaller passenger vehicles and also includes SUVs such as the 2014 VW Touareg and 2016 Audi Quattro.

According to the EPA, affected diesel models include:

• 2014 VW Touareg
• 2015 Porsche Cayenne
• 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5

This is the second notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) the EPA has recently issued to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. EPA also sent Monday’s NOV to Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America.

As with the previous NOV that EPA issued concerning certain 2.0 liter diesel engines, the EPA says that VW manufactured and installed software in the electronic control module of vehicles with 3.0 liter engines that senses when the vehicle is being tested for compliance with EPA emissions standards. When the vehicle senses that it is undergoing a federal emissions test procedure, it operates in a low NOx “temperature conditioning” mode.

Under that testing mode, the vehicle meets emission standards. Under normal driving conditions, it does not, and the cars emit up to nine times the allowable limits of nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are a major source of smog, which triggers health problems like asthma.

“It now appears that Volkswagen’s apparent fraud against consumers is even larger than previously thought,” said Gretchen Freeman Cappio, a partner at Keller Rohrback, which represents Volkswagen consumers in nearly every state and the District of Columbia.

Thus, as with other vehicles such as the diesel Jetta and Golf, while Volkswagen and Porsche consumer who bought diesel Touareg, Cayenne, and Quattros believed they were buying or leasing environmentally friendly and fuel efficient “clean” diesel cars, in fact, they were misled by Volkswagen. The affected cars pollute more, and because of Volkswagen’s deception, are worth less.

Keller Rohrback, a leading consumer protection firm, filed one of the first lawsuits against Volkswagen related to the defeat device vehicles. Since then hundreds of concerned consumers from around the country have contacted Keller Rohrback to find out what they can do to help ensure that Volkswagen is held responsible for its actions. This means forcing Volkswagen to compensate consumers and fix the polluting cars.

If you or a family member owns or leases any of the affected vehicles described above, or if you are concerned that your vehicle may be affected and have questions, please call attorneys Gretchen Freeman Cappio, Matthew Preusch, Ryan McDevitt, or Daniel Mensher at 866.560.4043 or via email at [email protected] to discuss our investigation and your potential claims against Volkswagen.

Check out the Keller Rohrback Volkswagen Diesel Resource Center.

Keller Rohrback L.L.P., with offices in Seattle, Phoenix, New York, and Santa Barbara, serves as lead and co-lead counsel in class actions throughout the country. Our Complex Litigation Group is proud to offer its expertise to clients nationwide, and our trial lawyers have obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of clients in excess of seven billion dollars.