Volkswagen facing multiple US probes
Volkswagen is facing multiple investigations in the United States, including, reports say, a criminal probe from the Department of Justice.
They follow an admission by the world's biggest carmaker that it deceived US regulators in exhaust emissions tests.
A DoJ criminal investigation would be serious, as federal authorities can bring charges with severe penalties against a firm and individuals.
Late on Tuesday, New York state's top lawyer announced an investigation.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would collaborate with other states to enforce consumer and environmental law.
"No company should be allowed to evade our environmental laws or promise consumers a fake bill of goods," Mr Schneiderman said in a statement announcing the probe.
Volkswagen scandal
11 million
Vehicles affected worldwide
- €6.5bn Set aside by VW
- $18bn Potential fines
- No. 1 Global carmaker in sales
Meanwhile the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board are investigating the way VW cheated tests to measure the amount of pollutants coming from its diesel cars.
Volkswagen said 11 million vehicles worldwide were involved and it was setting aside €6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs of the scandal.
According to news agencies Bloomberg and AFP, the DoJ is looking into the issue, which raises the possibility of the company and individual executives facing criminal charges.
However, the DoJ often extracts hefty payments from companies to settle criminal charges.
'Totally screwed-up'
Volkswagen is due to hold a supervisory board meeting on Friday.
But reports say that chief executive Martin Winterkorn will appear before a select group of board members before then, possibly later on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Mr Winterkorn issued a fresh apology for the test-rigging, saying he was "endlessly sorry" for the "manipulation".
The boss of Volkswagen's US business, Michael Horn, has also admitted the firm "totally screwed up".
In the UK, the Department of Transport has added its voice to calls for an EU-wide investigation into the affair.
VW shares were down almost 17% on Tuesday in Frankfurt, after losing 19% on Monday.
Cars and the environment - two things that Germany cares so deeply about that they form part of the national character.
So Germans are shocked to discover that for years the country's mightiest car manufacturer Volkswagen has been rigging environmental tests for diesel emissions in the US.
It's as if the British suddenly found out that the Queen had a hand in fixing the horse races at Ascot.
One German newspaper has called it the "most expensive act of stupidity in the history of the car industry".
It's stupid because manipulating pollution data to boost sales can only be seen as a slap in the face to customers who paid a premium for what they thought was a greener car.
Since the company owned up, its shares have plummeted by more than a third in just two days.
Fines looming
Last Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said VW diesel cars had much higher emissions than tests had suggested and that software in several diesel cars could deceive regulators.
As a result Volkswagen was ordered to recall half a million cars in the US.
The EPA found the "defeat device", the device that allowed VW cars to emit less during tests than they would while driving normally, in diesel cars including the Audi A3 and the VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat models.
VW has stopped selling the relevant diesel models in the US, where diesel cars account for about a quarter of its sales.
The EPA said that the fine for each vehicle would be up to $37,500 (£24,000). With 482,000 cars sold since 2008 involved in the allegations, it means the fines could reach $18bn.
That would be a considerable amount, even for the company that recently overtook Toyota to be the world's top-selling vehicle maker in the first six months of the year.
Industry experts are concerned about what this means more widely for diesel car manufacturers.
Jim Holder, editorial director of Haymarket Automotive, whose titles include WhatCar and AutoCar, told the BBC that there had never been a scandal in the industry of this size, and that it could make diesel engines for cars uneconomical.
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