Switzerland Bans Sales Of Some VW Diesels

NPR | By Scott Neuman

Published September 26, 2015 at 9:13 AM EDT

New Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller poses with Berthold Huber (third from right) acting head of the Supervisory board of Volkswagen, Stephan Weil (second from right) Prime Minister of Lower Saxony and member of the Supervisory board, Wolfgang Porsche (right) member of Supervisory board and Bernd Osterloh (left) head of Volkwagen's works council, at VW's headquarters in Germany on Friday.

Switzerland has announced that it will temporarily halt the sale of Volkswagen diesel-engine vehicles after it was revealed earlier this month that the automaker cheated on emissions tests.

Thomas Rohrbach, spokesman for the Swiss federal office of roadways, is quoted by The Associated Press as saying that "the ban is on all cars with diesel engines in the 'euro 5' emissions category. It includes all VW models — as well as Seat, Skodas and others in the VW group."

The BBC says that could affect 180,000 unsold cars in the country that have 1.2-liter, 1.6-liter and 2-liter diesel engines.

The news follows developments on Friday that included the appointment of a new CEO, Matthias Mueller, and announcements in Germany that emissions tests on 2.8 million VWs in the country had been rigged. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also said it was tightening its testing procedures.