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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/30/vw-suspends-media-chief-monkey-exhaust-tests-diesel-emissions
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| VW suspends media chief amid scandal over fume tests on monkeys | VW suspends media chief amid scandal over fume tests on monkeys |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Move follows report carmaker used animals to demonstrate diesel emissions technology | Move follows report carmaker used animals to demonstrate diesel emissions technology |
| Kate Connolly in Berlin | Kate Connolly in Berlin |
| Tue 30 Jan 2018 12.55 GMT | Tue 30 Jan 2018 12.55 GMT |
| Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2018 15.07 GMT | |
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| The carmaker Volkswagen has suspended its head of external relations and sustainability after admitting that he had known about experiments in which monkeys were locked in small chambers and exposed to diesel exhaust. | The carmaker Volkswagen has suspended its head of external relations and sustainability after admitting that he had known about experiments in which monkeys were locked in small chambers and exposed to diesel exhaust. |
| Thomas Steg, a former government spokesman, who worked for German chancellor Angela Merkel and her predecessor Gerhard Schröder, is the first person to be relieved of his duties as VW said it was “drawing the consequences” of the scandal which has rocked both the government and industry. | Thomas Steg, a former government spokesman, who worked for German chancellor Angela Merkel and her predecessor Gerhard Schröder, is the first person to be relieved of his duties as VW said it was “drawing the consequences” of the scandal which has rocked both the government and industry. |
| The company initially tried to distance itself from the institute which commissioned the tests, the European Research Group of Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a car lobby group funded by Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW. But it is now known that VW managers were informed about the testing before and after it was carried out. | The company initially tried to distance itself from the institute which commissioned the tests, the European Research Group of Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a car lobby group funded by Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW. But it is now known that VW managers were informed about the testing before and after it was carried out. |
| Steg has been pinpointed as a senior manager who knew that the experiments were going on, with internal papers seen by German media suggest he had known about them in 2013. | Steg has been pinpointed as a senior manager who knew that the experiments were going on, with internal papers seen by German media suggest he had known about them in 2013. |
| He joined the company in 2012, one of many top managers to have taken a direct route from politics, in what is commonly referred to as a revolving door policy said to highlight the mutual interests of the two worlds. Other top bosses have been trying to distance themselves from the scandal since news of it broke at the weekend. | He joined the company in 2012, one of many top managers to have taken a direct route from politics, in what is commonly referred to as a revolving door policy said to highlight the mutual interests of the two worlds. Other top bosses have been trying to distance themselves from the scandal since news of it broke at the weekend. |
| Initially reported in the New York Times, the tests, carried out in May 2015 by the New Mexico-based Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI), involved locking 10 Java monkeys in small airtight chambers for four hours at a time. | Initially reported in the New York Times, the tests, carried out in May 2015 by the New Mexico-based Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI), involved locking 10 Java monkeys in small airtight chambers for four hours at a time. |
| The animals were left to watch cartoons as they breathed in diesel fumes from a VW Beetle. The ultimate aim of the tests was to prove that the pollutant load of nitrogen oxide car emissions from diesel motors had measurably decreased, thanks to modern cleaning technology. | The animals were left to watch cartoons as they breathed in diesel fumes from a VW Beetle. The ultimate aim of the tests was to prove that the pollutant load of nitrogen oxide car emissions from diesel motors had measurably decreased, thanks to modern cleaning technology. |
| VW is already under close scrutiny over “dieselgate”, in which the carmaker manipulated tests on about 11m cars worldwide to make it appear they met emissions tests when in reality they exceeded levels many times over when used on the road. | VW is already under close scrutiny over “dieselgate”, in which the carmaker manipulated tests on about 11m cars worldwide to make it appear they met emissions tests when in reality they exceeded levels many times over when used on the road. |
| The company said on Monday a small internal group had mistakenly pushed for the animal tests to be carried out and that they did not reflect VW’s ethos. But industry observers said the excuses held little water, as the experiments had been well-documented and the results presented to managers at BMW, Daimler and VW, all of whom belonged to the EUGT, which has since been disbanded. | The company said on Monday a small internal group had mistakenly pushed for the animal tests to be carried out and that they did not reflect VW’s ethos. But industry observers said the excuses held little water, as the experiments had been well-documented and the results presented to managers at BMW, Daimler and VW, all of whom belonged to the EUGT, which has since been disbanded. |
| Hans Dieter Pötsch, VW’s supervisory board representative and chief controller, said on Monday he was struggling to understand how the tests had been allowed to be carried out, calling them “in no way understandable”. | Hans Dieter Pötsch, VW’s supervisory board representative and chief controller, said on Monday he was struggling to understand how the tests had been allowed to be carried out, calling them “in no way understandable”. |
| Daimler and BMW tried to distance themselves from the tests, stressing that none of their cars had been used. | Daimler and BMW tried to distance themselves from the tests, stressing that none of their cars had been used. |
| In a second round of tests, the animals were forced to breathe in the fumes of a Ford F-250 used for the purposes of comparison, because the car was an older model with apparently less sophisticated filter technology. | In a second round of tests, the animals were forced to breathe in the fumes of a Ford F-250 used for the purposes of comparison, because the car was an older model with apparently less sophisticated filter technology. |
| Volkswagen (VW) | Volkswagen (VW) |
| Automotive industry | Automotive industry |
| Animal welfare | Animal welfare |
| Germany | Germany |
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