The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half million cars from the road, saying the German automaker used software intentionally designed to circumvent environmental standards for reducing smog.<br />The Environmental Protection Agency issued the company a notice of violation and accused the company of breaking the law by installing software known as a "defeat device" in 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15.<br />Affected diesel models include the 2009-15 Volkswagen Jetta , 2009-15 Beetle, 2009-15 Golf, 2014-15 Passat and 2009-15 Audi A3 .<br />It follows a November 2014 announcement of the administration's largest-ever penalty for a violation of the Clean Air Act , in which the government fined the Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors a combined $300 million as part of a settlement for overstating vehicle fuel-economy standards on 1.2 million cars.
