Volkswagen AG won regulatory approval for technical plans to fix 8.5 million diesel engines in Europe equipped with software that cheats on emissions tests, enabling the company to start resolving a scandal that has hurt sales since September. In addition, the 1.6-liter engine will require the installation of a piece of mesh to regulate air flow, adding about another 30 minutes of labor.
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Volkswagen will shed about 600 temporary workers at a factory in Zwickau, Germany next year as it battles to cope with the fallout from its cheating of diesel emissions tests, labour representatives at the carmaker say.
Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at Nikki.
Public prosecutors in the German city of Stuttgart are investigating whether staff at auto parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH were involved in the rigging of emissions tests by Volkswagen, the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
Volkswagen continues to experience new hardships in the wake of the so-called “Dieselgate” emissions scandal as its European sales growth ground to a near halt last month. The 1.6-liter engines will also get a software update. Work will start on the 1.6-litre vehicles that need the hardware fix by the third quarter of next year, Volkswagen said. The carmaker also has yet to come to an agreement with regulators in the USA over steps to take for recalling affected VW, Audi and Porsche models there.
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Today, Volkswagen Group said that German regulators approved its proposed fixes to vehicles with EA 189 engines, the infamous engines that include defeat devices and released illegal amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx) while VW vehicles were being driven under normal conditions. Stuttgart-based Bosch, which makes a diesel engine management programme used by several top automakers including VW, declined to comment on specific investigations. “In this connection the Volkswagen brand is assuring all customers that where necessary an appropriate replacement mobility option will be provided free of charge”, a Volkswagen statement reads.
