VW’s Latest Emissions Woes Are Bigger Than Just Diesel

Volkswagen said Tuesday there were unspecified “irregularities” in the CO2 emissions in about 800,000 vehicles. The discrepancy will cost Volkswagen at least 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion). That’s about 2,500 euros per car, more than four times the cost for the diesel-exhaust repairs. To fix systems for filtering nitrogen oxide from the exhaust of about 11 million diesel autos, VW has so far set aside 6.7 billion euros, which works out to about 609 euros per vehicle.

Cars that spew more carbon dioxide than they’re supposed to actually have a bigger effect on consumers than dirty diesels, Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst for Evercore ISI, said in an e-mail. That’s because higher CO2 emissions equal worse gas mileage. And in Europe, where authorities have cracked down on greenhouse gas emissions, the falsification will probably affect customers’ tax rates too, he said.