It wasn’t until around 2009 that VW started using emissions rigging software in its cars, but according to a report in German newspaper Handelsblatt, the software had already been around for 10 years at that point. Citing company and industry sources, the paper reports that Audi engineers created software which could turn off “certain engine functions” way back in 1999, but the company itself never used it.

Instead, parent firm VW used the software to cheat emissions tests by altering the way its cars ran when under test conditions. In the end, it emerged 11 million cars had been subject to emissions fiddling. VW and Audi have so far declined to comment on Handelsblatt’s report due to the ongoing investigation into the scandal.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi has admitted that it has also dabbled in emissions test rigging, with 625,000 cars affected. The announcement has wiped $1.2 billion off the company’s value.

Source: Handelsblatt Via Reuters