A few 11 million cars worldwide are affected by the scandal, and Volkswagen faces enormous fines and lawsuits globally as a result.
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German press reports named two of them as Ulrich Hackenberg, development chief at VW’s Audi (LSE: 0FG8.L – news) subsidiary, and Wolfgang Hatz, his counterpart at luxury sports auto brand Porsche.
US officials say Volkswagen AG programmed diesel engines on 482,000 cars to disable emission controls when the vehicles were not being tested.
In addition to the German criminal probe, VW is conducting its own internal investigation and has hired a USA law firm to help. “Volkswagen will subsequently inform the owners of these vehicles over the next weeks and months”.
From a regional breakdown of the sales figures, it was not immediately apparent whether the scandal, which broke on September 18, has had any direct effect on business just yet.
Breaking down its September sales figures, VW said group sales rose 4.7 percent in western Europe and 7.3 percent in the United States, offset by a 0.8 percent decline in China, a 26 percent drop in Russian Federation and a 44 percent plunge in Brazil.
The KBA has also established deadlines for Volkswagen’s recall: technical details on the repairs must be submitted for review by mid-November, and the recall must begin in January. That means the automaker may be looking at a recall affecting 8.5 million vehicles, which would make it one of the biggest recalls in Europe’s history.
The carmaker responded by saying it would recall 8.5 million vehicles across all 28 European Union member states.
Volkswagen said in a statement that the fix would be free and that customers can already enter their car’s serial number on a special website to find more.
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The company said Friday it would hire lawyer Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt as an executive on its top management body tasked with integrity and legal affairs. “At the same time we would like to thank Daimler AG for agreeing to our request to the early termination of Dr. Hohmann-Dennhardt’s contract”.
