Volkswagen scandal: Australia unable to confirm cars have test-cheating software

Automaker estimates the cheat affects 11m cars worldwide, but Australian arm of company is still awaiting confirmation from its German headquarters

Lawyers and the Australian consumer watchdog are circling Volkswagen, with the carmaker still unable to say whether its cars in Australia have been fitted with software that cheats environmental tests.

Volkswagen has admitted that it installed a program in the engine software of some of its diesel cars that reduced toxic emissions when being tested. The US Environmental Protection Agency discovered that 482,000 VW diesel cars on American roads were emitting up to 40 times more toxic fumes than permitted.