Volkswagen is caught in a new controversy, according to which the company has been manipulating the infotainment system software to bypass environmental restrictions.

The petrol and diesel variants of vehicles from major manufacturers have been facing emission issues in the past few years, which is why everyone of them are moving towards hybrid and electric vehicles. Volkswagen joins the list and in order to stop the controversy from further expanding, they have decided to stop selling multiple models in the United States which sport diesel engines.

According to an official statement from Volkswagen, the company representatives have decided to stop selling the 2015 models of Volkswagen 480k Golf, Passat, Jetta and Beetle. They will also discontinue every Audi vehicle that is powered by a four cylinder turbo diesel engine. If the controversy is proven by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Volkswagen may have to pay billions of dollars in fine, which could jeopardize their operation for a while.

The company has already recalled a large number of their vehicles back to their factory and confirmed that they are ready to co-operate with the investigation until the very end. Chief Executive of Volkswagen, Martin Winkerton apologized for breaking the trust their customers had with the brand and assured that they will do everything in their power to fix things at the earliest.

The manufacturer did not officially confirm the number of vehicles which have been taken back, but a report from the Environmental Protection Agency claims that at least 482,000 cars were using this allegedly bugged software. Volkswagen is supposed to recall every one of them and let the agency test them all before an official report is submitted.

Another report from the Wall Street Journal claimed that if found to be guilty VW may have to pay a massive sum of $37, 500 per car, which, in total, amounts to a massive sum of $18 billion. It may definitely have a strong financial impact in the company that is one of the leading suppliers of multiple vehicles in regions across the globe.

The EPA representative opined that it is highly offensive to use such software and break the clean air standards set by them. “It could lead to public health issues and we never expected such an act from a reputable brand like Volkswagen”, said Cynthia Giles, the enforcement group assistant administrator at the EPA. We may have to wait for some time before an official verdict is out.