Carmakers who cheat emissions tests were threatened with unlimited fines yesterday under anti-pollution rules being drawn up in Westminster. It comes after the global scandal triggered in 2015 when Volkswagen was found to have used “defeat device” software to pass the tests. Importers, dealers and distributors handling vehicles fitted with such devices would also be liable for criminal prosecution. The VW scandal affected more than 1.2 million vehicles in Britain and Northern Ireland. Ministers have repeatedly threatened to punish the company, with Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary at the time, insisting in 2015 that VW deserved to suffer “substantial…

Source: The Times February 02, 2018 00:00 UTC