Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any action was taken by (a) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and (c) any other testing authority against vehicle manufacturers as a result of in-service emissions testing in each of the last 10 years; and what (i) penalties and (ii) other sanctions were imposed on vehicle manufacturers as a result of in-service emissions testing in each such year.

Andrew Jones

Action taken by the Vehicle Certification Agency is below;

In the last 10 years, two models failed the tests. They were:

• Mitsubishi Carisma Petrol Euro III (2005/2006 test)
• BMW Mini One D (2008/2009 test)

In-service testing requires a minimum of three tests in order to achieve meaningful statistical results, although up to 20 vehicles may need to be tested. Where a fail decision is reached the series production is deemed to have failed, and the Approval Authority for the vehicle should be contacted to inform them of the test result.

In the Case of BMW Mini the KBA (German approval authority) were informed to enable them to take action. In the case of the Mitsubishi the manufacturer was contacted directly and a number of anomalies were found with the test vehicle that could account for the failed result. In this case, the approval authority was again the KBA. Following further discussion with the manufacturer, no further action was taken.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not taken any action against any vehicle manufacturer as a result of in service emission testing during the past 10 years.