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Volkswagen emissions scandal may be worse than thought

BERLIN - German automaker Volkswagen says it is trying to determine whether even more of its cars than previously thought were fitted with software used to cheat on U.S. emissions tests.

The company had previously said the software was installed on cars with variants of the EA 189 diesel engine built to the "Euro 5" emissions standard.

Spokesman Pietro Zollino confirmed to The Associated Press Thursday a report from the dpa press agency that the company is now checking whether models with the EA 288 diesel motor built to the same emissions standard may also have the software.

Newer cars built to the "Euro 6" standard are said not to be affected.

Zollino didn't say how many cars are being checked. VW previously said 11 million cars worldwide were affected.

The Reuters news agency notes that, "Europe's biggest automaker admitted on Sept. 18 it used illegal software to manipulate emissions tests on diesel vehicles in the United States, sparking the biggest business crisis in its history."

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