U.S. Department of Justice Bringing the Hammer Down on Volkswagen

"The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), today filed a civil complaint in federal court in Detroit, Michigan, against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America Inc., Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations LLC, Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America Inc. (collectively referred to as Volkswagen)," according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

"The complaint alleges that nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles had illegal defeat devices installed that impair their emission control systems and cause emissions to exceed EPA’s standards, resulting in harmful air pollution.  The complaint further alleges that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by selling, introducing into commerce, or importing into the United States motor vehicles that are designed differently from what Volkswagen had stated in applications for certification to EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB)."

The press release goes into more details about the harmful impacts of Volkswagen's malfeasance, as well as the vehicle models involved in the scandal and subsequent lawsuit. Reuters reported on the news, noting that the lawsuit could incur penalties totaling in the billions of dollars.