Not a unique German thing, I am afraid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal

"A practice by diesel vehicles including the Volvo S60, Renault's Espace Energy and the Jeep Renegade, exceeded legal European emission limits for nitrogen oxide (NO x) by more than 10 times.[1] ICCT and ADAC showed the biggest deviations from Volvo, Renault, Jeep, Hyundai, Citroën and Fiat."