用猴子測試柴油車尾氣 大衆汽車再陷醜聞大綱

Automaker Volkswagen has suspended a top executive in response to widespread public criticism over experiments in which monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust.
汽車製造商大衆利用猴子進行柴油尾氣測試引發公衆廣泛批評，該公司爲此將一名高管停職。

The company said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Steg, head of government relations and sustainability, was stepping away from his duties at his own request.
大衆30日發表聲明稱，該公司政府關係與可持續性負責人托馬斯•施特格主動要求離職。

Steg had said in an interview published in the newspaper Bild that he had known about the experiment but did not inform the company's then-CEO, Martin Winterkorn. Steg said he rejected an initial proposal to use human volunteers and said that even after animals were substituted the experiment "should not have taken place."
施特格在接受德國《圖片報》採訪時曾表示，他已經知曉此事，但並未通知大衆時任首席執行官馬丁•溫特科恩。施特格稱，他拒絕了以人類志願者爲試驗對象的最初方案，並稱即使後來用動物代替人類進行試驗“也是不可取的”。

The move follows a report in The New York Times that the now-disbanded EUGT commissioned the 2014 monkey test at the Lovelace Respiratory Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to measure how Volkswagen's diesel technology was succeeding in controlling harmful emissions.
此前，《紐約時報》的一篇報道披露，現已解散的歐洲交通行業環境與健康研究集團（EUGT）曾委託位於新墨西哥州阿爾伯克基的洛夫萊斯呼吸研究所在2014年進行猴子試驗，以測試大衆柴油車技術是否成功控制有害氣體的排放。

《紐約時報》的報道稱，2014年進行的這項研究旨在爲柴油車辯護，因爲在那之前有人披露，柴油車尾氣致癌。

據德新社報道，EUGT由大衆、戴姆勒和寶馬公司共同創立，其中大衆是主要出資方。它的性質是遊說組織，已於去年解散。

Diluted exhaust gases from a late-model Volkswagen vehicle were fed into chambers where the monkeys were exposed for four hours. Afterward, lung fluid samples were taken from the sedated monkeys, which were not killed for the experiment. The study did not deliver a definitive result.
研究人員向房間裏釋放了一臺大衆新型汽車經稀釋後的尾氣，並讓猴子在房間裏呆上4小時。隨後，從注射了鎮靜劑的猴子身上提取肺液樣本，這些猴子並沒有在試驗中死去。該研究沒有得出明確的結果。

The test was done with a vehicle that used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests, turning controls off when the vehicle was not being tested. That practice was exposed in 2015, leading to Winterkorn's resignation.
這次試驗中使用的車輛安裝了能夠在尾氣排放檢測中作弊的軟件，當車輛未被測試時，軟件會關閉控制裝置。這一做法在2015年遭曝光，導致溫特科恩辭職。

The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute said in a statement that the tests were designed by EUGT and the lab itself was initially not aware the vehicle had been rigged. It said it complied with regulations for the treatment of lab animals and was committed to their humane and ethical treatment.
洛夫萊斯呼吸研究所聲稱，試驗是由EUGT設計的，他們最初並沒有意識到車輛被操縱了。他們遵守了關於實驗動物的處理規定，並致力於讓它們受到人道的對待。

The labs president and CEO, Robert W. Rubin, said in a statement that when the lab later learned that the vehicle engine had been modified to produce less pollution "we determined the study was compromised" and did not meet the standards for publication.
該研究所總裁兼首席執行官羅伯特•W•魯賓在一份聲明中表示，他們後來瞭解到，爲減少污染這臺汽車的發動機已經被改進過，“我們認定研究結果受到影響”，不符合發表標準。

大衆總部所在的德國下薩克森州州政府是大衆公司大股東之一。下薩克森州州長、大衆監事會成員斯特凡•魏爾說，監事會要求大衆披露猴子試驗的決策細節以及試驗目的。魏爾稱，“如果試驗是爲了研究車間內的安全和健康條件是否達標，並且遵照倫理標準進行，那麼還說得過去。但如果試驗是出於爲市場和銷售服務，那麼我想不出一個可以接受的理由。”

Volkswagen's current CEO, Matthias Mueller, said in the VW statement that "we are investigating in detail the work of EUGT, which was dissolved in 2017, and drawing the necessary conclusions." He said Steg "has declared that he takes full responsibility, and I respect that."
大衆現任首席執行官馬提亞斯·米勒在30日的聲明中表示，“我們正在調查EUGT的工作，給出必要說法。該機構已經在2017年解散。”他還稱施特格“已經宣佈對此事負全責，我對此表示尊重。”

"We will ensure that such things will not be repeated," board Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said. The company has said that rejects animal experiments and that "we apologize for the wrong behavior and bad decisions of individuals."
大衆董事會主席漢斯•迪特•波什稱：“我們將確保此類事件不會重演。”該公司已經表示拒絕動物實驗，並“爲錯誤的行爲以及個人的錯誤決定道歉。”

Daimler and BMW condemned the experiment and said they were investigating.
戴姆勒和寶馬譴責了這項試驗，稱他們正在進行調查。

當地時間29日，德國總理默克爾表態，譴責這種有爭議的柴油污染物測試，並呼籲相關汽車企業對此事進行說明。

這是德國車企與尾氣相關的又一樁醜聞。2015年9月，大衆在美國被曝爲部分柴油車安裝尾氣作弊軟件，爲氮氧化物排放數據造假以通過尾氣測試。兩年多來，大衆爲“排放門”善後需支付的罰金、賠款、維修費等各項金額估計達到300億美元。戴姆勒去年7月捲入同樣醜聞，在歐洲市場宣佈召回逾300萬輛梅賽德斯－奔馳柴油車。