The global emissions scandal Volkswagen has been embroiled in since September is the result of a series of mistakes dating back to 2005, the German carmaker announced on Thursday. This was when the company had launched a massive new campaign to sell diesel engine vehicles in the United States, reported AFP. "It was not a one-off error, but an unbroken chain of errors," said the company's supervisory board chief Hans Dieter Poetsch.

The scandal broke when Volkswagen was forced to admit that it had installed emission-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide. Once seen as the pinnacle of the German automotive industry, VW is facing its deepest crisis following the revelations. Chief executive Matthias Mueller said that the group was "currently doing everything it can to limit the effect the current situation has on its business performance".

On Wednesday, the company said that the number of cars whose carbon emissions it had understated is far fewer than feared. Volkswagen said that only about 36,000 vehicles were affected, as against the 800,000 which it had quoted last month, reported Reuters.