The German transport ministry has annouced that it has no evidence that automakers other than Volkswagen used emissions-cheating software in certification tests, Automotive News Europe and Reuters report.

"At this point we have no indication of other manufacturers being involved," a spokesperson for the ministry announced at a government press conference.

The announcement follows promises from the German government to conduct an investigation into diesel vehicles and their performance on emissions tests, as fears mounted last week that several automakers could have been using similar or different methods to pass emissions tests.

Still, it's prudent to point out that the VW diesel crisis is only two weeks old as of Oct. 2, and that greater efforts to test and certify vehicle emissions have been promised by a number of governments that have, until now, largely relied on self-reporting by automakers. Evidence of other automakers' use of software or other methods to skirt emissions regulations in foreign jurisdictions or in the U.S., if it exists, may take months to detect. It should also be noted that in today's statements, the German goverment did not definitively rule out other automakers' possible efforts to bypass EU or U.S. emissions regulations.

So far, vehicles from Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands have been put under scrutiny by VW divisions in a number of countries, including those equipped with EA 189 engines and other diesel engines. A number of stop-sale orders have been issued for several VW models in the U.S.

Several European countries have opened investigations into VW AG diesel vehicles, with Switzerland issuing an outright ban on the registration of new VW diesel cars that carry the emissions-cheating software. Italy and France have also opened investigations centering on commercial wrongdoing, rather than the possible violation of air pollution regulations, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the state of California plans to conduct its own probe into emissions by Volkswagen vehicles, Bloomberg reports. California will also be a part of another probe by 26 other U.S. states that have announced an official investigation.

A separate probe by California, which has not been officially announced, will use California's more stringent environmental laws to examine the diesel vehicles implicated in the emissions-cheating scandal, a source told Bloomberg. California is generally considered to have the most stringent emissions regulations in the U.S., overseen by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

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