Free Republic

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California officials say some 482,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesels were engineered to falsify their emissions for federal tests—a violation that opens the German automaker to a theoretical fine totaling $18 billion. The EPA and California Air Resources Board say the affected models had software in its computer engine controls that could sense exactly when it was being tested for emissions quality. At all other times, it would run the diesels in a different mode with illegal levels of pollution; for example, spewing up to 40 times more nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog,...

/begin my translation   N. Korea Ordered 300 Volkswagen Cars, Including a Luxury Sedan   by Kim Jong-ho Recently, N. Korea purchased about 300 passenger cars from Volkswagen, including top-class luxury model Phaeton, and mid-size model Passat in Europe. A source from Volkswagen Korea said on (Jan.) 28th, "We heard from an executive from the headquarter who visited here recently that N. Koreans came to Volkswagen headquarter in Germany, and placed orders for 300 Passats, mid-size car, and 5 Phaetons, a top-class luxury sedan." N. Koreans first placed orders for 300 Passats (engine displacement: 1,800~2,000 cc(cubic centimeter)), airlifted one Phaeton with 6-cylinder engine(engine displacement 6,000cc) to Pyongyang, and...