U.S. says more cars included in VW diesel cheating

Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal widened Friday after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the German automaker used software to cheat on pollution tests on more six-cylinder diesel vehicles than originally thought.

California Air Resources Board spokesman Dave Clegern on Friday said Audi admitted that the vehicles had auxiliary emissions control equipment that was not disclosed to the United States government.

"Today, Volkswagen provided to EPA and CARB its initial proposal for addressing the emissions problems in the company's 2.0 liter diesel vehicles listed in EPA's September 18th Notice of Violation", the federal agency said Friday in a statement.

The company has been battered by the discovery that millions of VW diesel vehicles were sold with "defeat devices" secretly installed - software that allowed the auto to determine when an emissions test was being performed, and reduce performance and emissions to cheat the test.

That gives Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller time to negotiate with labor leaders on more painful measures to prune a group that spans 12 brands and more than 300 models.

Like a cloud of billowing smoke, the Volkswagen dirty diesel scandal just keeps expanding. Additional VW and Porsche models weren't available Friday afternoon, but initially the EPA said it also was on the 2014 VW Touareg and 2015 Porsche Cayenne. And, the automaker has taken a writedown of 6.7 billion euros this quarter to cover costs related to Dieselgate. "We will strictly prioritize all planned investments and expenditures".

"The most unfortunate aspect of this news, in addition to the environmental harm, is that it slows VW's ability to move beyond the negative headlines and start the rebuilding process", said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, a car-buying website.

They have suggested the emissions scandal could provide an opportunity for management to force through changes that otherwise might have been resisted by the company's influential trade unions.

It fitted as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with software that was created to cheat nitrogen oxide emission tests.

It will also delay plans for its next Phaeton model, which was slated to be an electric-only model. Labor representatives hold 10 of the 20 seats on the supervisory board.

The Volkswagen Group has announced European owners of affected TDI cars will not receive compensations.