Auto owners who fear they are affected by the emissions scandal are now able to check online whether their vehicle is involved.
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However, VW AG and its subsidiary Audi are yet to provide details on which models are fitted with the “defeat devices”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Volkswagen’s emissions-rigging scandal a “far-reaching event” and demanded the world’s largest automaker quickly investigate it. It follows last week’s confirmation that 79,348 cars sold through its dealer networks were affected.
The new chief of scandal-hit Volkswagen braced his workforce for tough times ahead Tuesday, admitting that billions laid aside for fines and damages arising from a massive pollution cheating scam will not be enough.
So far they’ve seen no change but Martin went on to say: “We are not discounting there may be a few short-term impact on prices across the marques in the Volkswagen Group over the coming weeks, due to the amount of negative media coverage”.
VW, Audi and Porsche all declined to comment, while the individuals could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mueller said all planned investments would be reviewed and vowed to try to prevent lay-offs as the company struggles with the deepest crisis in its history.
Mueller also told employees the company will fight to limit the fallout on its workforce of 600,000 at over 100 plants worldwide. Shares in Volkswagen Group have lost over a third of their value in the wake of the revelations by the US Environmental Protection Agency. “We will do everything to regain your trust”.
Volkswagen has until Wednesday to give German regulators a binding timetable that sets out when it will have a fix for the cars in the country and by when it can be implemented.
A company spokesman said: “As a voluntary measure we have suspended the sale of unsold diesel vehicle stocks that have the EA 189 engines”.
To put it in context, Subaru outsells the Volkswagen brand in the U.S.-and much of VW Group’s North American growth overall has come from surging sales of an expanding range of Audi luxury vehicles.
But he said an “evolution” rather than a “revolution” was needed to get VW back on track, predicting that the company could “shine again” in two to three years.
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How long will it take at this point for the carmaker to begin improving its reputation within the auto industry and more importantly, for customers? S-Oil, one of the nation’s major oil refiners, invested about 200 billion won ($170 million) in December past year to increase its diesel production by 10 percent.
