In a statement, Volkswagen said Tuesday (November 24) that it is “cooperating with the authorities” working on the investigation.
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Audi has reportedly suspended two engineers implicated in the ongoing emissions scandal.
The California Air Resources Board yesterday said it had notified Volkswagen Group of America to recall all VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter diesel engines in the model years 2009-2015 that were sold in California. The larger engine is used in the Audi A6, A7 and A8 sedans; Q5 and Q7 sport utility vehicles; and the Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg SUVs. The U.S. and German investigations could lead to criminal charges against Audi employees.
No individuals have so far been charged with wrongdoing in the investigations.
Regulators in South Korea have also imposed a $12.3m fine on the German automaker for emissions cheating.
Mr. Stadler has declined repeated requests to speak to The Wall Street Journal about the emissions crisis.
He also added it had not yet determined whether Volkswagen models with the newer Euro 6 “EA288” engine had cheated on emission tests.
The fixes will range from simple software update for two-litre diesel engines, to more complex solutions for 1.6-litre models. This increases accuracy of the air mass sensor, a component that provides for optimum combustion through determination of air mass throughput.
The update for the 1.2-litre diesel engine will be presented to the Federal Motor Transport Authority at the end of the month and is expected to be a software update.
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However, the perception of diesel as a vehicle fuel does not appear to have been damaged as a result of the scandal, RAC claims, despite the negative attention about the harmful effects of diesel emissions. In addition, a software update will be performed on this engine. Volkswagen Group’s headquarters said it will give $1,000 gift cards, vouchers and three-year free fix service, known as a “good will package”, to each of the 482,000 owners in North America, but Korea and Europe were excluded from the plan.
