Brazil to investigate Volkswagen cars' emission in wake of US finding

The Brazilian environmental protection agency IBAMA announced on Friday that it will investigate whether Volkswagen cars in Brazil were also involved in the lately exposed emissions cheating scandal.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that the software on Volkswagen diesel cars showed false emission data. The software installed by Volkswagen in its cars has violated the Clean Air Act, the EPA said in a statement on Friday.

According to the findings of the agency, the software called "defeat device" by the EPA can turn on full emission controls only when the car is undergoing emission tests to make the car meet the legal emission standards. But during normal driving, the car will emit nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times the standard.

The Brazilian government wanted to find out whether the Volkswagen vehicles sold in Brazil also had the software.

Volkswagen is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers and suppliers in the South American country.

The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) considered the fraud to be "very serious."

The watchdog said if the fraud is confirmed in Brazil, Volkswagen will not only pay a hefty fine but also be obligated to correct the problem in all vehicles in which the software is installed.

Volkswagen announced that over 11 million diesel-fuelled vehicles have been equipped with the software in the world. The scandal has already caused the company's CEO Martin Winterkorn to resign earlier this week.