VOLKSWAGEN

Meanwhile, a European organization said it had found that the company's gasoline-powered cars consumed significantly more fuel than tests showed.

Reports to watch this week include consumer spending, weekly jobless claims and unemployment rate.

Countries around the world have launched their own investigations after the company was caught cheating on tests in the United States.

"The percentage of our business that's diesel is very small," says Jed Kass, a Volkswagen dealer in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

The German automaker is already facing fines of as much as $18 billion, after admitting it used software that reported misleading data during emissions testing.

Authorities in Germany have known for years about the widening gap between emissions values measured in official laboratory tests and those recorded in real-world environments.

Switzerland also halted the sale of other models from carmakers, including Audi, Seat, and Skoda, that have been linked to the massive emissions-faking scandal.

Suzuki Motor Corp said it has sold its entire 1.5 percent stake in Volkswagen AG to Porsche Automobil Holding SE and will post a special profit of 36.7 billion yen ($304 million) on the transaction.

As Volkswagen's diesel deception comes to light, critics say it's time to revamp auto emissions testing.

The world’s largest automaker does well in emerging markets and Europe, but it’s been struggling since 2012 in the U.S. The emissions-cheating scandal won't help.

John German, senior fellow at the ICCT, tells International Business Times he alerted the feds to the problem in 2014.

Following last week's damning revelations, the list of countries that have launched investigations into the carmaker’s malpractices has continued to grow.

The German automaker could face heavy fines from regulators in the Golden State, as well as from federal and international authorities, for cheating on emissions standards.

Critics say lax regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency made it easier for Volkswagen to game the system.

The emissions-rigging scandal that led to the resignation of the automaker's CEO was based on software, not a device.

A flurry of top-level firings is likely at VW following the company’s admission it cheated on U.S. emissions tests.

Nearly 11 million cars have been affected by the misleading software, causing uproar among Volkswagen owners and environmental protection agencies alike.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims Volkswagen has been cheating on emissions testing by deploying software that could sense when the car was being tested and thus lower the car's emissions.

The company has been rocked by the news that up to 11 million cars worldwide may have been installed with software that covertly altered the results of emissions tests.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ended the day 2.8 percent in the red, with shares of car manufactures falling steeply as a delayed reaction to the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal probe and at least 25 proposed class actions on behalf of consumers have already been filed in seven states.