But getting a fix approved by regulators in the U.S. to bring the offending cars in line with the rules has proved much more hard for Volkswagen due to stricter rules about NOx emissions in the US. The charges against Volkswagen AG along with its Audi and Porsche units could carry a penalty more than $90 billion at the rate of $37,500 per vehicle violation of the Act based on complaints.
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The company is in the midst of negotiating a massive mandatory recall with USA regulators and potentially faces more than $18 billion in fines for violations of the federal Clean Air Act.
Among other accusations, the Justice Department’s lawsuit alleges Volkswagen equipped almost 600,000 diesel engines with illegal devices that would manipulate emissions control systems and cause emissions to exceed EPA standards.
Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Nissan each reported record December sales, and the latter two companies set annual sales records in the U.S.
He further said investigation over “cheat device” was going on even in USA and European Union and the company has yet not been directed to pay any compensation.
The fix for VW’s diesel cars in Europe has already been agreed upon and Diess believes that about 8.5 million vehicles will be fixed by the end of 2016 in Europe.
BBC reports that Volkswagen is being investigated by regulatory agencies in different parts of the world including United States, the United Kingdom, France, South Korea, Canada, Germany and, now, Australia.
On Thursday, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency said that Volkwagen CEO Matthias Mueller will meet next week with EPA chief Gina McCarthy, the highest-level talks since the German automaker admitted to using software to evade emissions requirements in 580,000 USA vehicles.
Justice Department officials said on Monday the case was filed in the Eastern District of MI because that is where “significant activity” related to the company’s cheating scheme occurred.
In a previous interview with Reuters, Volkswagen brand chairman Dr. Herbert Diess told the news service that retrofitting early 2.0-liter engines with the necessary equipment to comply with emissions regulations would be more hard than bringing newer examples up to code.
Fixes in the United States will probably include complex recalls and they are likely to take several years, especially for some of the older models. The software is programmed to turn emissions controls on during regulatory tests and turn them off on real roads.
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But 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”.
