Tests allegedly performed by the global Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), which was involved in spotting the alleged VW cheating, found that BMW’s X3 xDrive with a 20d engine produced NOx emissions as much as 11 times higher than allowed by European Union regulations.

On Thursday Nordea Asset Management announced that its fund managers were banned from buying VW’s stocks and bonds, saying that “the scandal is unacceptable from an investment point of view”.

Russian state standards agency Rosstandart said on Friday it had requested information from the Russian unit of German carmaker BMW BMWG. Delawarerelated to possible issues with its exhaust emissions systems.

In a statement to AFP, BMW said: “The BMW group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”. BMW Group is committed to observing the legal requirements in each country and fulfilling all local testing requirements.

Germany’s motor vehicle administration “will concentrate its investigations not only on the Volkswagen models in question but will also do spot checks of other vehicle manufacturers”, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters in Berlin.

BMW also said that two studies carried out by the ICCT had shown that the BMW X5 and 13 other BMW models complied with the legal requirements concerning nitrogen oxide, or NOx, emissions. “No specific details of the test have yet been provided and therefore we can’t explain these results”.

Meanwhile, Matthias Mueller, 62, the head of the Porsche sports-car brand, has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Martin Winterkorn as Volkswagen’s chief executive officer and set up the company’s tarnished image as the house cleaning begins, people familiar with the matter said.

Asian markets mostly recovered Thursday from the previous day’s sharp losses, but Tokyo tumbled as investors returned from a long weekend to play catch-up, with auto giants hit by the Volkswagen scandal.

Auto Bild appears to be referring to a separate set of tests. The European test for vehicle emissions is supposedly even more stringent and better-overseen than the American one, but the fact is that you can, almost literally, drive a coach and horses through the loopholes in the test.

The report put a dent in BMW’s share price yesterday, but the Munich-based company continues to deny that it uses software that artificially alters its cars’ environmental performance under testing.

Volkswagen (VLKAY) isn’t the only German automaker taking heat in the emissions probe.