The report quotes two unnamed insiders who have revealed, not unexpectedly, that senior Volkswagen management is also in the sights of investigators.
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“We write to urge you to offer more robust compensation for drivers of all VW vehicles purchased in the United States that contained defeat devices used to circumvent NOS emissions control requirements”, U.S. Sen. “All these reactions are fully understandable, since everybody at Volkswagen of America lives exactly through the same emotions”, Horn said.
In fact, in the early days of the scandal the parts supplier went as far as to say that Volkswagen ignored warnings back in 2007 that its software and components were not to be used illegally.
Separately, U.S. Senators Ed Markey of MA and Richard Blumenthal of CT on Thursday released a letter calling on the automaker to buy back diesel vehicles that don’t meet pollution standards. “But we completely understand that apologies are not enough”. The company also has withdrawn its application to get emissions controls approved on four-cylinder diesels for the 2016 model year, and the government is investigating whether VW cheated on those.
Audi’s plan to overcome these hurdles is to build a 150 kw fast charging network, like Tesla, and, once it is finished, launch a plug-in electric SUV of its own, the e-tron Quattro.
Volkswagen’s board is discussing the automaker’s future financial strategy in the wake of its emissions-rigging scandal, and was due to present to USA authorities later Friday its plan to fix the affected diesel engines. But older cars might have to be repurchased rather than fitted with new pollution control devices. She said VW planned to meet with USA regulators on Friday to lay out plans and discuss remedies to fix the 482,000 vehicles. A spokeswoman said the company is cooperating with the agencies. VW has denied those allegations.
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“It hasn’t impacted us at all”, said BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch in an interview. “Diesel is only six per cent of our business, and there’s been no discernible impact”. The group sold 3.5% fewer vehicles in October compared to a year earlier as several countries including France and Italy temporarily halted sales of vehicles affected by the diesel issue. The VW scandal may hurt the popularity of the diesel engine, said Steve Cannon, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.
