We don't rig any emissions test: BMW Group

“The BMW Group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests,” the German automaker said in a media statement after a German trade magazine claimed that it wasn’t just Volkswagen that was guilty of rigging emission tests of its vehicles.

An article in Auto Bild magazine dated September 24 alleges that road tests conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found the diesel BMW X3 20d Xdrive guilty of emitting more than eleven times more NOx gases than the limits of Euro 6, Europe’s latest diesel engine emission legislations.

BMW has rejected these claims, and reiterated that the carmaker adheres to stringent regulations everywhere it operates.

“We observe the legal requirements in each country and fulfil all local testing requirements. In other words, our exhaust treatment systems are active whether rolling on the test bench or driving on the road,” it said.

BMW’s fellow German carmaker Volkswagen is in the middle of an emissions scandal dubbed ‘diesel-gate’ by the media.

VW has been forced to acknowledge that it rigged emissions tests run on its diesel vehicle engines by employing special technology that only turned on during test conditions. This artificially lowered the amount of pollutants produced from its diesel cars when tests were being conducted on the vehicles.

This made VW car’s diesel engines look much cleaner in terms of emissions than they really were.

Volkswagen admitted to using software in millions of its cars that would lead to better results in car-emissions standard tests than the engines would produce in reality.

BMW told Emirates 24|7 that it doesn’t sell any diesel passenger cars here in the UAE.

Nevertheless, it adds that it follows a strict protocol to avoid wrongdoing.

“Clear, binding specifications and processes are in place through all phases of development at the BMW Group in order to avoid wrongdoing,” BMW Group said in the statement.

Even as the Auto Bild magazine cited road tests conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) as basis for its allegations against BMW, the group says ICCT test result clear it of any misconduct.

“Two studies carried out by the ICCT have confirmed that the BMW X5 and 13 other BMW vehicles tested comply with the legal requirements concerning NOx emissions. No discrepancies were found in the X5 between laboratory-test and field-test NOx emissions,” the group said in the statement.

“We are not familiar with the test results mentioned by Auto Bild on September 24 concerning the emissions of a BMW X3 during a road test. No specific details of the test have yet been provided and therefore we cannot explain these results,” it added.

\BMW said it is contacting ICCT to seek clarification of the test they carried out, and will be open to discuss its testing procedures with relevant authorities and to make its vehicles available for testing at any time.

BMW’s diesel vehicles accounted for 38 per cent of all its vehicles sold worldwide last year: Europe – 80 per cent; Germany – 73 per cent; US – 6 per cent.

 

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