Good call. It wasn&#x27;t European governments, and it wasn&#x27;t an attempt to punish automakers for malfeasance, though.<p>The ICCT (an NGO) that appears to be based on Europe, commissioned the West Virginia study to try to figure out how more stringent US Diesel standards were being met, so they could encourage automakers to meet the same standards in Europe.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.detroitnews.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;business&#x2F;autos&#x2F;foreign&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;24&#x2F;vw-caught&#x2F;72715074&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.detroitnews.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;business&#x2F;autos&#x2F;foreign&#x2F;2015...</a><p>&quot;In 2013, his organization [the ICCT] commissioned a study of VW diesels by West Virginia University after questions were raised about European diesel emissions standards and whether European vehicles were emitting too much nitrogen oxides linked to smog. Testers looked at three diesel cars for the U.S. market: a 2012 VW Jetta, a 2013 VW Passat and a BMW X5.
The group expected the cars they tested would perform better than those in Europe, because U.S. regulations are tougher. They were surprised the two Volkswagens had significantly higher-than-expected emissions, while the BMW performed well. They were so certain they had done something wrong that they tested the cars two more times with similar results.&quot;