On the plus side, the marque has confirmed that vehicles powered by the EA 288 diesel engine are not affected. On Saturday 250,000 people marched in Berlin against an EU-U.S. trade deal which they feel will erode European standards for food and safety.
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The embattled automaker will have to provide German regulators with the code for a software fix by the end of this month.
Volkswagen has said that a few managers had been suspended, but said the report Wednesday of up to 30 “lacks any basis”.
But the number of cars involved in the U.S.is relatively small, fewer than half a million.
His successor, Matthias Mueller, proposed last week that VW start recalling the cars in January but said the programme would take all year. The software was also active in diesels VW sold with the same EA189 engine in Germany, Dobrindt said Thursday.
The carmaker has until the end of November to come up with a technical solution for 1.6 and 1.2 litre vehicles, he added.
Customers now have clarity with regard to the continued unrestricted use of the vehicles.
The acting EPA administrator, Janet McCabe stated, “We have a long list of questions for VW about this”. According to VW, there are approximately 325,000 of those models – about two-thirds of the USA cars under investigation.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen announced in the press release that it is going to cut the annual investment at its biggest division by approximately $1.1 billion and will enhance the development of electric cars, as an attempt to recover from its emission scandal crisis.
If that proves to be the case, Volkswagen’s problems could increase exponentially, a few observers warn. The company faces potentially billions in fines and other costs.
VW has since launched an investigation into the matter, though new chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch warned that it will take “some time” to find solutions, BBC News noted.
Additional civil and criminal probes are underway overseas.
For the sake of customers and the image of the automobile, “we will clear up what happened at Volkswagen”, Enak Ferlemann, state secretary in Germany’s Transport Ministry, said in a speech in the lower house of parliament.
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The board of the scandal-hit company gathered last month to shake up its management and choose a replacement for chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned. Meanwhile, Winfried Vahland, who was named just three weeks CEO of the new Volkswagen North America group tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
