In its investigation into the inclusion of cheating software in various turbodiesel engines, Volkswagen has already collected over 100 terabytes of company data from 380 employees, and is consulting with 450 experts.
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VW did say that all future admissions tests will be evaluated externally and independently.
Volkswagen says a “chain of errors” led to the emissions cheating scandal rather than a one-off mistake, adding that it struggled with deadlines to meet strict conditions on limits in the USA when it launched a diesel promotion campaign ten years ago. The company says this includes the “misconduct and shortcomings of individual employees”, weaknesses in “some processes”, and a “mindset in some areas of the company that tolerated breaches of rules”.
Matthias Mueller, VW’s CEO, said the crisis was an opportunity for the company to introduce long-needed structural change.
“VW officials repeated again and again that regaining the trust of their customers is their No. 1 task, and in that regard, they said that owners of the cars will receive compensation for the loss of resale value of the vehicles”, John says. Cooperation with those authorities was described as “excellent”.
VW is also planning to bring in a new corporate structure that would be implemented across the group by early 2017. However, the investigation did not find indications that management board members or supervisory executives knew of the effort. The company will not be considering the sale of any units and will not raise money.
Mueller, who has not been to the United States since becoming chief executive after the scandal broke, said he would start a visit to the country after the Detroit motor show in January.
“We will not allow the crisis to paralyze us. I will look ahead optimistically and confidently”. “Although the current situation is serious, this company will not be broken by it”. He left open the option of making adjustments within Volkswagen’s sprawling portfolio of 300 model variants.
The costs facing VW, once seen as the paragon of German industry, are still incalculable, not only in terms of reputation and global earnings, but with regard to the potential billions in possible fines and legal costs as well.
“Our emissions tests will, in future, be verified by external and independent third parties”, he said.
The auto maker is also experiencing a backlash from consumers amid the sluggish progress to recall the vehicles.
United Kingdom sales were down by 20 per cent in November according to SMMT data revealed earlier this week, and U.S. sales fell by nearly 25 per cent in the same month. While the company is nearing regulatory approval for a low-priced fix for some 8.5 million cars in Europe, its proposals are still under review in the US, where regulation is more stringent.
Its suspicions of illegal discrepancies in the carbon-dioxide emissions of as many as 800,000 vehicles proved to affect far fewer vehicles than originally suspected.
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Volkswagen has provided an update into the investigation of the Dieselgate scandal.
