Report: General Motors Cheated Fuel Economy, Emissions With Opel Zafira

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

General Motors on Thursday denied that its own internal testing revealed the Opel Zafira 1.6-liter diesel flouted European emissions and fuel economy standards, Bloomberg reported ( via Automotive News).

A German news magazine program, Monitor, said officials at Opel knew its midsize crossover polluted up to 15-percent more carbon dioxide than advertised, and that the automaker knew its fuel claims couldn’t be substantiated. The report also said that separate testing at a Swiss facility showed the Zafira exceeded advertised fuel consumption and emissions by 20 percent.

Or, in other words: Another chapter in the “ Everyone Cheated/Just Volkswagen Cheated” saga.

In October, a German environmental group, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), claimed that the Opel Zafira diesel polluted up to 17 times the Euro 6 limit for nitrogen oxides, which GM denied at the time.

Opel on Thursday stopped short of putting a brick through Monitor’s window:

In our opinion, this kind of coverage is neither objective nor thorough and is only intended to disorient the consumers and damage Opel’s reputation. The TV magazine Monitor has thus apparently allowed itself to be used by the Deutsche Umwelthilfe whose accusations have already been proved false and deceptive on numerous occasions.

In its statement, Opel officials claimed that the advertised CO2 limits were within the 10 percent range allowable in Europe, and that independent testing by the German transportation authority in the spring refuted claims made by the DUH later in the fall.

Opel also denied using software to cheat emissions tests, like someone else you may have heard of.

If substantiated, the charges could levy serious fines for GM in Europe and potentially for Zafira owners too. When Volkswagen admitted in October that its cars produced more CO2 than disclosed to regulators, Volkswagen admitted that would be on the hook for more than $2.1 billion to pay owners’ taxes and official fines — in addition to any criminal penalties that the company could face.

The allegation by the German news magazine is the latest volley against diesel car manufacturers in Europe who’ve consistently claimed that their cars don’t illegally pollute, but conform to test conditions that everyone else on the planet has a hard time replicating.

But I’m sure the European test mimics real-world conditions, right?


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Geekcarlover Geekcarlover on Dec 03, 2015

    Perceptions of GM will likely cause this to be met with a shrug. When Vinny the loan shark gets caught cheating on his taxes, no one is shocked. When it's Parson Brown, major scandal.

  • W.Minter W.Minter on Dec 04, 2015

    The story so far: 1) DUH tested the Zafira on a 2WD / 4WD dyno and ran the european emissions (NOx) cycle - they claimed. But they didn't stick to the rules, they switched on headlamps, radio, AC etc. Reason: cheating cheat devices, obviously. 2) Results: 2a) on the 2WD dyno, all emissions tests pass 2b) in 4WD mode, the emissions are far too high -> DUH assumed that Opel uses a cheat device that detects 2WD dynos but is blind on the 4WD eye 3) Opel is mad about it. So they tested a Zafira on a 2WD / 4WD dyno and ran the european emissions (NOx) cycle. But they DID stick to the rules. Headlamps, radio, AC etc. off. 4) Results: 4a) on the 2WD dyno, all emissions tests pass 4b) in 4WD mode, all emissions tests pass -> Opel claims: We stick to the rules, we don't have a cheat device that detects 4WD mode. My assumption (highly simplified): - IF wheels_spinning = 2 THEN load EU6.map - IF wheels_spinning = 4 ELSE IF {AC; LIGHTS; RADIO}=OFF THEN load EU6.map - IF wheels_spinning = 4 ELSE IF {AC XOR LIGHTS XOR RADIO}=ON THEN load MOARPOWR.map DUH was just too sure about the 4WD dyno detection, but I think it's more complex. That's why DUH's statement is wrong from a legal point of view, but Opel's statement is absolutely correct. Still, the Zafira's NOx emissions in real world driving might be - according to the DUH tests - fubar. And many other OEMs seem to have similar problems (or strategies). But one might assume that regulators in Europe have a gentlemen's agreement with the OEMs that says "Dear OEM, as long as you help us with good CO2 figures on paper, we will never check the NOx emissions."

    • SELECTIVE_KNOWLEDGE_MAN SELECTIVE_KNOWLEDGE_MAN on Dec 04, 2015

      Did you mean this? IF(wheels_spinning=4 AND (AC=ON OR LIGHTS=ON OR RADIO=ON)) THEN load EU6.map ELSE load MOARPOWR.map

  • SCE to AUX I've never been teased by a bumper like that one before.
  • 3SpeedAutomatic R&T could have killed the story before it was released.Now, by pulling it after the fact, they look like idiots!! What's new??
  • Master Baiter "That said, the Inflation Reduction Act apparently does run afoul of WTO rules..."Pfft. The Biden administration doesn't care about rules. The Supreme Court said they couldn't forgive student load debt; they did it anyway. Decorum and tradition says you don't prosecute former presidents; they are doing it anyway. They made the CDC suspend evictions though they had no constitutional authority to do so.
  • 1995 SC Good. To misquote Sheryl Crow "If it makes them unhappy, it can't be that bad"
  • 1995 SC The letters on the hatch aren't big enough. hard pass
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