Prosecutors raid BMW offices over emissions cheating inquiry

\"There is an early suspicion that BMW has used a test bench-related defeat device,\" prosecutors said.

Austrian police and prosecutors have raided BMW offices, apparently escalating an emissions cheating investigation that reportedly began last month.

"There is an early suspicion that BMW has used a test bench-related defeat device," prosecutors wrote in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

BMW has quickly attempted to downplay the raid, which involved around 100 law enforcement officials at the company's Munich headquarters and Steyr engine plant. The company says the prosecutors are looking into "erroneously allocated" software in just 11,400 vehicles, including the 750d and M550d.

In what appears to be a narrowly worded denial, the automaker claims there are no findings of "targeted manipulation" of diesel emissions systems.