It all started with Volkswagen admitting last September that it had cheated on emission tests for over 11 million cars. The confession however, came after the US Environmental Protection Agency pulled the German carmaker up for using a cheat device on its large diesel cars. This includes Volkswagen diesels and even the cars of under the Group's umbrella, say large Audis and Porsches.

Since September last year, amid thousands of recalls and millions of dollars earmarked to pay penalties and for damages, more carmakers have joined the list.

Take Nissan, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, they all cheated on either emission figures or fuel efficiency numbers.

Also read No impact of Suzuki mileage test issue in India: Maruti

Here's a timeline of the scandals, created by ZeeBiz.com, that have rocked the automobile sector in the last eight months.