Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen has submitted a recall plan to the U.S. for 480,000 cars that had emissions-cheating software installed, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has confirmed.
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In a meeting between Volkswagen and the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, VW admitted to the agency that there are defeat devices in all Volkswagen and Audi 3.0-liter diesel vehicles from model years 2009 to 2016, according to an email from an EPA spokesperson on Friday.
Bernd Osterloh, VW’s powerful works council chief, said in a statement the supervisory board would take another look at investment and capacity plans at its first meeting next year.
Volkswagen has denied that the software allows the cars to cheat on emissions tests.
Volkswagen officials acknowledged Friday emissions control violations include its three-liter V-6 diesel vehicles, widening the automaker’s cheating scandal to a few 85,000 Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches. Laura Allen, a spokeswoman for the EPA, said the charge involved about 10,000 cars built since 2014.
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. VW will also delay construction of an R&D center in Wolfsburg. Additional VW and Porsche models weren’t available Friday afternoon, but initially the EPA said it also was on the 2014 VW Touareg and 2015 Porsche Cayenne.
Stertz said it would cost in the “double-digit” millions of euros to reprogram all the software on the six-cyilnder diesels.
Any recall would affect Jetta, Golf, Beetle, Passat and Audi A3 four-cylinder diesels. One possible fix, a larger trap to catch harmful nitrogen oxide, could hurt the cars’ acceleration and fuel mileage. For most of the cars, VW can either alter the exhaust system (cutting performance and gas mileage) or install a chemical treatment process (requiring multiple hardware changes).
Volkswagen said Friday it will trim spending on factories and equipment to 12 billion euros ($12.8 billion) next year, down from 12.9 billion euros under the previous budget and in line with cuts it had already announced.
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Biesecker reported from Washington.
