The bad news is that 8.5 million of VW’s cars will most likely be subject to a mandatory recall – and that’s just in Europe. A preliminary inquiry is being conducted by the Paris prosecutor into suspected “aggravated deception” by VW, which installed “defeat device” software on its diesel vehicles to intentionally mislead regulators about the vehicles’ emissions.
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The raid comes on the heels on an announcement by the German authorities that the automaker will have to recall 2.4 million cars in Germany alone, with authorities turning down a proposed voluntary recall plan by VW last week. Making money is what Volkswagen has decided that it needs to do. It has since emerged that as many as 11m of its diesel cars worldwide are believed to be affected with at 1.2m coming from the UK.
In addition to the costs of repairing so many vehicles, the once-respected automaker now faces billions of euros (dollars) in potential fines and legal costs, aside from the incalculable fallout from lost sales and diminished customer trust. “The agencies are now evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting additional information”. As of right now CEO of Volkswagen Matthias Muller have chose to remove a few of the vehicles of their line-up.
Winfried Vahland, the newly appointed head of Volkswagen AG North America, quit unexpectedly on Wednesday, less than three weeks after he was appointed to the post amid the diesel-emissions scandal.
Speaking to Reuters, the sources – who include a VW manager and a United States official close to the investigation – said that over a period of seven years Volkswagen altered its illegal software for four engine types.
It appears that la merde hit the fan on Friday when police raided not one, but two Volkswagen offices near Paris.
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Employees in Volkswagen’s finance department will long be preoccupied tallying up losses from the poorly thought-out decision to tamper with several models of diesel vehicles.
