Golf

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
Hatchback

Despite spending billions of dollars in fines and buying back millions of vehicles, the Dieselgate scandal, exposed in September 2015, simply won't go away. German prosecutors, according to Reuters report, raided VW's Wolfsburg headquarters this past Tuesday in the latest chapter of the scandal VW desperately wants to be over and done with.

Apparently, prosecutors said investigators were there to confiscate specific documents. VW announced it is fully cooperating with the authorities though it believed this raid and investigation to be unfounded. Although authorities did not disclose what exactly they were looking for, VW opted to share some details.

This new investigation is targeting diesel vehicles with the type EA 288 engine, the successor to the EA 189 and main focus of the entire cheating scandal. Newer vehicles equipped with the EA 288 included the 2015 model years of the Golf, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Euro-spec Passat, and Jetta.

Did VW hide additional information about this second oil burner? Investigators seem to think so, despite the fact that simulations showed the EA 288 engine did not indicate a failure of the diesel filter (i.e. it still complied with emission standards and was not equipped with a defeat device). VW claims authorities are now targeting individual employees, though their names have not been revealed so far.

A total of 11 million vehicles worldwide were affected by the Dieselgate scandal at the heart of which was a system designed to recognize when the vehicle was being officially tested for emissions by a government authority or related testing body. The software purposely provided faulty data while real-world driving emissions released excessive levels of C02.

VW paid a big price for its "win at any cost" approach, and this latest investigation indicates it may not be over yet.