According to a report from Bloomberg, the carmaker could buy back diesel engine Volkswagen vehicles that were rigged to cheat U.S. emissions regulations, but are not easy to fix.
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Wisely, Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen passenger vehicles brand, dove right in, noting that while the venerable German automaker is proud of its 60-year history in the US, “the current emissions issue is certainly nothing to be proud of”.
Diess said the company has reached an agreement with European regulators to update software on VW cars across the continent.
However, Diess also told Reuters that fixing some of the older affected cars with the 2.0-liter diesel engine might prove to be more hard and costly compared with newer affected models. The brand chief suggested that he did not see Europe shifting away from diesels in the near future, a market that diesels have dominated for decades, but he did not elaborate on any expected changes to the company’s strategy in the US market.
The federal lawsuit alleges that Volkswagen intentionally tampered with the vehicles sold in the U.S.to include what regulators call a “defeat device”, a mechanism specifically created to game emissions tests.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that “recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward”.
“It’s a very constructive dialogue”, he said.
The EPA statement said it and CARB will keep insisting that VW come up with “effective appropriate remedies as expeditiously as possible at no cost to owners”.
Diess said. “There will be a huge new-product offensive after we get through the crisis”.
That’s despite the company’s emissions scandal that has undermined the eco-friendly credentials of the niche powertrain.
Diess also stated that the company is working to fix the 11 million diesel vehicles that were outfitted with modern technology that covered up pollutants that otherwise would have caused drivers to fall short emission tests.
Volkswagen could face fines of as much as $37,500 per vehicle for each of two violations of the law, $3,750 for each defeat device installed, and another $37,500 for each day of violation, according to a Reuters review of the civil complaint.
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The U.S. Justice Department on January 4 sued Volkswagen for up to $48 billion for allegedly violating U.S. environmental laws.
