Renewed focus on emissions testing standards with one lobbyist calling for one testing agency across Europe

In the wake of the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal there have been calls for a new pan-European vehicle emissions testing body to be paid for out of a compulsory EUR20 (USD22.4) levy applied to every new car sold in the region. The Transport and Environment (T&E) lobby group has made the suggestion amid growing concerns that the emissions test results that were falsified in the US may also have been compromised in Europe. In a statement the T&E's clean vehicles manager, Greg Archer said, "What is needed is a truly independent EU type approval authority funded by a levy of 20 euros on every vehicle sold." Europe lacks any kind of pan-regional emissions testing and enforcement body such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which discovered the discrepancies between NOx emissions of VW diesel vehicles between the test cycle and real world driving conditions.

Meanwhile VW will today announced its new CEO to replace Martin Winterkorn following his departure in the wake of the scandal. According to numerous press reports Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller is the current favourite for the role. Mueller has overseen Porsche doubling its sales and becoming the main profit generator for the VW Group since he was appointed to the role in 2010, following a varied engineering and business career at VW. If Mueller is appointed, he will be expected to come up with results quickly in terms of restoring customer trust and showing shareholders, government and environmental agencies that the company is doing all it can to be transparent and get to the bottom of the decision-making processes and chain of responsibility that led to the so-called "defeat device" being fitted to the EA189 engine. Newly appointed head of the VW passenger car brand Herbert Diess has been mentioned as another possibility, but he has only recently joined the firm from BMW. Mueller is thought to be favoured by the Porsche and Piëch families that control Porsche Holding SE, which has a controlling interest in VW.

Outlook and implications

There is growing concern in Europe over the possible implications of the VW emissions testing scandal that was discovered by the EPA and the Californian Air Resources Board (CARB) in the US. After VW admitted that there are potentially 11 million vehicles worldwide fitted with the so-called "defeat device" technology it was clear that the majority of these vehicles would have been sold and in used in Europe, with is by far the biggest regional diesel market in the world. More than half of the cars sold in Europe are diesel-powered and they have been given a favourable ride in terms of tax regimes, while OEMs in Europe have favoured the technology because of the superior fuel consumption it can offer consumers and the lower CO2 emissions the powertrain technology offers, with EU legislation on emissions significantly weighted towards lower CO2 emissions, rather than an emphasis on particulate or NOx emissions. It is not clear if a co-ordinated, cross-border approach to NOx emissions testing across Europe would have made much difference, however. The tests in the US are more rigorous anyway and any co-ordinated response would have to be integrated into the move to introduce the new World Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) which is designed to be a far more accurate simulation of real-world driving conditions that the existing New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) The European automakers association ACEA said the new Euro-VI standard will soon require emissions testing of cars under all driving conditions. In a statement the ACEA said, "The automotive industry is fully supporting the development this new Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test in order to ensure a more robust control on emissions." Western European governments have reacted with alarm to the VW revelations. The French government has stated that it will form its own independent commission to test cars at random to check real-world emissions, while the UK government is also planning to conduct its own spot-check emissions tests to see whether stated figures match real-world driving conditions.

Meanwhile it appears likely that Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller is at the top of the list of candidates to replace Winterkorn. Diess is too new to the organisation in all likelihood and the other serious candidate, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, is regarded as being too close to Winterkorn and does not have an engineering background. Mueller will have to show the world that VW is serious about changing its culture if he is appointed, However, given VW's unique shareholding structure and the influence of the State of Lower Saxony and the company's powerful works council lobby this will be no easy task.

Contacts

Copyright © 2025 S&P Global Inc. All rights reserved.

These materials, including any software, data, processing technology, index data, ratings, credit-related analysis, research, model, software or other application or output described herein, or any part thereof (collectively the “Property”) constitute the proprietary and confidential information of S&P Global Inc its affiliates (each and together “S&P Global”) and/or its third party provider licensors. S&P Global on behalf of itself and its third-party licensors reserves all rights in and to the Property. These materials have been prepared solely for information purposes based upon information generally available to the public and from sources believed to be reliable.
Any copying, reproduction, reverse-engineering, modification, distribution, transmission or disclosure of the Property, in any form or by any means, is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of S&P Global. The Property shall not be used for any unauthorized or unlawful purposes. S&P Global’s opinions, statements, estimates, projections, quotes and credit-related and other analyses are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security, and there is no obligation on S&P Global to update the foregoing or any other element of the Property. S&P Global may provide index data. Direct investment in an index is not possible. Exposure to an asset class represented by an index is available through investable instruments based on that index. The Property and its composition and content are subject to change without notice.

THE PROPERTY IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. NEITHER S&P GLOBAL NOR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS (TOGETHER, “S&P GLOBAL PARTIES”) MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE PROPERTY’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE PROPERTY WILL OPERATE IN ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, NOR ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO ITS ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS, OR TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE PROPERTY. S&P GLOBAL PARTIES SHALL NOT IN ANY WAY BE LIABLE TO ANY RECIPIENT FOR ANY INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE. Without limiting the foregoing, S&P Global Parties shall have no liability whatsoever to any recipient, whether in contract, in tort (including negligence), under warranty, under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any recipient as a result of or in connection with the Property, or any course of action determined, by it or any third party, whether or not based on or relating to the Property. In no event shall S&P Global be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees or losses (including without limitation lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Property even if advised of the possibility of such damages. The Property should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions.

The S&P Global logo is a registered trademark of S&P Global, and the trademarks of S&P Global used within this document or materials are protected by international laws. Any other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The inclusion of a link to an external website by S&P Global should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the website's owners (or their products/services). S&P Global is not responsible for either the content or output of external websites. S&P Global keeps certain activities of its divisions separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain divisions of S&P Global may have information that is not available to other S&P Global divisions. S&P Global has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P Global may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P Global reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P Global Ratings’ public ratings and analyses are made available on its sites, www.spglobal.com/ratings (free of charge) and www.capitaliq.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P Global publications and third party redistributors.