Corporate office and engine plant targeted.
German luxury car stalwart BMW have had their offices raided by authorities in Germany and Austria, after suspicions arose that the Bavarian company may have employed emissions defeat devices in one of their large diesel mills.
Some 100 members of the police and other law enforcement agencies were on hand for the raid, which took place at their corporate office in Munich, Germany as well as their engine plant in Steyr, Austria.
In response to the raids and a statement by prosecutors stating that they harbour an “early suspicion that BMW has used a test bench-related defeat device,” BMW has denied the suspicions being levelled against it. In a statement, the Group said:
“The BMW Group takes the situation very seriously, and has a significant interest in the circumstances being fully explained. The BMW Group continues to assume that the situation was caused by an incorrect allocation of the software, and does not represent a deliberate attempt to manipulate exhaust emissions.” — BMW Group
In addition to that denial, the German transport authority (KBA) has also stated that it does not believe that BMW has utilised such devices.
The automotive industry has been under heavy scrutiny after the Volkswagen Group was discovered to have manipulated diesel exhaust emissions via a ‘defeat device’ in 2015, resulting in two arrests and more than US$20-bil in payouts. Since Dieselgate, the proverbial ‘witch hunt’ for other defeat devices from other automakers has been at full pelt, with the Fiat-Chrysler conglomerate set to defend itself against the US Environmental Protection Agency, that alleges their EcoDiesel mills have also been circumventing emissions regulations.
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