Volkswagen's subsidiary company in Brazil Thursday denied that its vehicles sold in the Brazilian market are less safe than the ones it exports to Europe.

The company released a press statement in response to heavy criticism from a consumer protection organization for failing to equip some of the vehicles traded in the domestic market with essential safety features, such as double airbags.

The NGO Pro Teste said Thursday that crash tests on the cars had shown the worst results in recent times, with an increased risk of death during a collision in a model destined for the Brazilian market.

But in its statement, Volkswagen argued that the organization had compared the performance of two different models, which would invalidate the tests. One had double airbags and the other did not.

The company defended itself by saying that both models with and without double airbags are traded in the Brazilian market, although neither Brazil nor the European Union had specifically requested the safety devices.

Volkswagen also pointed out that 100 percent of the European consumers acquire models equipped with double airbags, while only 2.8 percent of Brazilian consumers do the same, due to purchasing power and consumer habits.

Source: Xinhua