New exhaust test WLTP from 1 September

Author: Dimitri Lagun
Date: 25.07.2018

VW is facing space problem for untested vehicles

From first September on Volkswagen is obligated to the new WLTP emissions test. After the exhaust scandal, the process should introduce more realistic readings and be more thorough. Only with a positive test result, the cars of the car maker can be registered. Due to the WLTP models that are already on the market also needs to be retested under more stringent conditions.

VW is now facing a space problem because the not yet tested cars have to be stored. From August, the vehicles must be parked. The produced but not yet tested cars shall be parked on the test site of the Group near Wolfsburg.

Use of space in VW plants

But this is not enough space, so areas in the VW plant Emden in the business park Frisia are also used, as well as additional space in the plants in Ingolstadt and Frankfurt Höchst. In addition, vehicles are parked on the grounds of the airport and the German fair in Hanover.

Unfinished airport BER usable

Berlin’s BER airport, which has not yet been opened, should also be considered as a parking space. According to a VW spokesman, the airport is only one of several possible locations. So far no decision has been made. However, the cars would not be parked on the airfield, but in car parks. One car park is already in usage, according to an airport spokesman, but there are still around 10,000 available parking spaces out of a total of 12,000.

Delivery delays possible

Due to the obligation for the new exhaust test, VW has calculated delivery delays for 200,000 to 250,000 vehicles. This could have a negative impact on the balance sheets. After record sales in the first half of the year, less favorable results and effects on deliveries are forecast for the second half of the year. Furthermore, the production at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg will be shut down for one to two days a week from September.