“Poetsch said that the company still believes that a relatively small number was actively involved in the manipulation of emissions”.
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“No business transaction justifies overstepping legal and ethical bounds”, he said.
The German automaker came under scrutiny when it admitted to creating illegal software “defeat devices” meant to deceive emissions tests around the world.
It was effectively Mueller’s first news conference in person as CEO, aside from a telephone conference at the end of October, where he revealed that VW had run up its first quarterly loss in 15 years as a result of the billions of euros it set aside to cover the costs of the scandal.
Poetsch would not say if more staff might be suspended, but indicated the company’s probe would be broad: “This is not only about direct but overall responsibility”.
VW launched internal and external investigations after admitting cheating USA tests.
In a series of frank admissions, VW said it proved “impossible” for the 2.0-liter diesels in various 2009-2014 VW and Audi TDI models to legally meet the EPA’s stricter nitrogen oxide emissions requirements “within the required time frame and budget”.
Some employees, the company found, chose to cheat on emissions tests rather than to curtail Volkswagen’s USA campaign.
“Following extensive internal investigations and measurement checks, it is now clear that nearly all of these model variants do correspond to the Carbon dioxide figures originally determined”, the company explained in a statement.
He said Volkswagen would not name any individuals involved today but it was likely only a limited number of people took part in the deception.
“We are not talking about a one-off mistake, but a whole chain of mistakes that was not interrupted at any point along the timeline”, Poetsch told reporters Thursday at the company’s German headquarters, according to the AP.
Since the start of this year, the VW group’s executive board has brought in six new members, and top management had been changed at seven of VW’s 12 brands.
Speaking of the latter, Volkswagen says future software for engine control devices will be developed more strictly in accordance with the “4-eyes principle” that requires at least two people to be involved. The company also announced that it would be implementing a new corporate structure across the group as early as 2017.
Matthias Muller, VW chief executive, insisted: “We will not allow the crisis to paralyse us”.
“Volkswagen does not need its own Airbus, so we will be selling the aircraft”, Mueller said. “Although the current situation is serious, this company will not be broken by it”.
Mueller said he’ll protect jobs at each of Volkswagen’s factories around the world.
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The conference comes just a day after the carmaker announced that fewer cars than they had first predicted were affected by a secondary emissions based scandal. While the company is nearing regulatory approval for a low-priced fix for some 8.5 million cars in Europe, its proposals are still under review in the US, where regulation is more stringent.
