NEW YORK: Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said it would be difficult for an automaker to conceal internally an effort to falsify vehicle emissions data, such as has happened at Volkswagen AG.
The revelation at VW raises new “trust” issues for global automakers in the eyes of consumers, Ghosn said here on Tuesday.
He declined to comment specifically on what happened within VW but said that a lot of people likely would know about such an effort within a company.
“I don’t think you can do something like this hiding in the bushes,” said Ghosn, who is also CEO of Nissan’s alliance partner, Renault SA (RENA.PA), as well as chairman of their Russian partner, AvtoVAZ.
Volkswagen has been caught in a deepening scandal since the news broke Friday.
It has prompted questions about whether other automakers around the world may have also tampered with emission equipment on diesel engines to skirt tough US standards. Volkswagen has said it will record a 6.5 billion euro (US$7.3 billion) charge in the third quarter to help cover the costs of the debacle — and that the price tag could rise.
Ghosn said the scandal is a challenge for other global producers, who now face scrutiny over their own practices. Public trust of automakers has already fallen in the wake of high-profile recalls — including one linked to deadly ignition failures in General Motors cars.
Asked what the industry needs to do to respond to the scandal, Ghosn replied: “Be extremely open.”
Ghosn said he was surprised the Volkswagen revelation did not come from an internal source, such as a whistleblower. The problem was first spotted by a research centre at the University of West Virginia, which was analysing diesel emissions under a contract from a European non-profit group.
Volkswagen said the scandal could affect 11 million of its cars around the globe as investigations of its diesel models multiplied, heaping fresh pressure on CEO Martin Winterkorn.
It also warned that amount could rise, saying diesel cars with so-called Type EA 189 engines built into Volkswagen models worldwide had shown a “noticeable deviation” in emission levels between testing and road use.
The California Air Resources Board will broaden its testing of Volkswagen cars with diesel engines to include those with 3.0-litre V6 engines sold by two subsidiaries, a spokesman for the state regulator said on Tuesday.
The latest models to be examined are the Porsche Cayenne and the Audi A6, Stanley Young, communications director for the Air Resources Board, told Reuters.
Volkswagen will probably have to show there was some legitimate reason to install software that led to false vehicle emissions tests if it is to avoid US criminal charges, lawyers said on Tuesday.
The criminal probe, which was confirmed by a source familiar with the matter on Tuesday, is likely to examine not only possible violations of the US Clean Air Act but also of broader statutes against wire fraud, false statements to regulators and other crimes, the lawyers said.
Individual employees are also likely to be investigated and could potentially face criminal charges if wrongdoing is discovered, the lawyers added.
The Volkswagen scandal has spilled into the precious metals market, reflecting growing fears of a consumer shift away from the diesel engines that account for almost a half of the world’s platinum demand.
Platinum prices dropped 3.6 percent on Tuesday, their biggest one-day fall in more than two years, “whacked” by concerns that the German carmaker’s years-long effort to dupe US regulators on diesel emissions will hurt sales of diesel engines, said Ed Meir, metals analyst at INTL FCStone.
The price of palladium, which is preferred for gasoline-powered engines but less so for diesel, barely dipped 0.6 percent.
Keyword: Nissan boss says it would be hard to hide any effort to falsify emissions data