VW emissions issue extends to additional 75,000 vehicles

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has told U.S. regulators that emissions issues in larger luxury cars and SUVs extend to an additional 75,000 vehicles dating back to 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday.

The disclosure widened the VW scandal, which had previously focused mainly on smaller-engined, mass-market cars, and raised the possibility that engineers at both the Audi and VW brands could have been involved in separate emissions schemes.

The EPA and California Air Resources Board on Nov. 2 accused VW of evading emissions in at least 10,000 Audi, Porsche and VW sport utility vehicles and cars with 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines. VW initially denied the findings.

During a meeting on Thursday, VW and Audi officials told the EPA that the issues extend to all 3.0-liter diesel engines from model years 2009 through 2016. The new disclosure covers a total of 85,000 vehicles, the EPA said.

California Air Resources Board spokesman Dave Clegern said Audi admitted that the vehicles had auxiliary emissions control equipment that was not disclosed to the U.S. government.