Additionally, under USA law, the use of a “defeat device” to evade emissions tests is flatly illegal. File picture: Patrick Pleul / EPA.
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Skoda, another Volkswagen affiliate, announced 1.2 million of its cars also have the surreptitious software. This means there’s likely to be a big recall for those of you who drive diesel-powered cars with the VW brand, Audi, Seat and Skoda, and a few VW commercial vehicles.
Speaking to The Star on Thursday morning, Volkswagen SA’s Matt Gennrich said it would first conduct intensive investigations to be sure of its facts.
From last month all new diesel cars sold in Europe must be fitted with the latest Euro 6 engines, created to significantly reduce the levels of pollutants emitted.
The company admitted that 11 million of their cars have been fitted with the software that cheats emissions tests.
The British arm of Volkswagen said Wednesday it would recall and fix almost 1.2 million vehicles.
New Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, a company veteran appointed on Friday to replace Winterkorn, is under huge pressure to get to grips with the scandal. The total number of vehicles affected is 1,189,906.
“The Government is currently consulting on air quality plans – if our leaders wish to keep a clean conscience they must act now to help protect future generations from dirty, unsafe air”.
The automaker’s Audi brand posted a 16% increase, indicating that the luxury lineup may be maintaining its momentum even though one of its vehicles, the diesel A3, was involved in the scandal.
The scandal is also having repercussions in VW’s hometown of Wolfsburg, in northern Germany, which has imposed an immediate freeze on spending and hiring in the public administration in case its finances are adversely affected.
Volkswagen is the parent company to many great brands like Audi AG, Bentley Motors, and Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. Volkswagen did not say how the planned refit would make cars comply with regulations. Figures from the Department for Transport show there were 10.7m diesel cars on Britain’s roads at the end of 2014.
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“We also want the rest of the auto industry to swiftly set out whether their tests have been manipulated and if their customers have been misled”. Volkswagen will submit a plan on technical solutions to regulators and environmental authorities for approval in October. But big questions remain, not least why do VW Group cars in the United Kingdom need to be recalled at all? Much work needs to be done to restore the trust of existing and potential customers – and fast.
