VW staff began working on cheat in 2005 to crack US market

WOLFSBURG, Germany (AP) — A small group of Volkswagen engineers began working as early as 2005 on emissions cheating software after they were unable to find a technical solution to U.S. emissions controls as the automaker pushed into the North American market, executives said Thursday.

The company in September admitted to have cheated on U.S. diesel emissions tests with the help of software installed in engines.

In an update on the company's investigation in the case, Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said engineers in 2005 were unable to find a technical solution to U.S. nitrogen oxide emissions within their "timeframe and budget" and came up with the software that manipulated results when lab testing was done.

Poetsch did not say if any VW models from before 2009 had the cheating software in the U.S. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would not immediately comment on whether any more model years are under investigation.

VW sold some diesel models in the U.S. during the 2005 and 2006 model years but suspended sales in 2007 and 2008 after the EPA imposed stricter pollution standards.

To help restore confidence in the company and prevent a repeat of such a scandal, Poetsch announced that Volkswagen was instituting new, more stringent and transparent emissions testing for all of its vehicles.