Volkswagen scandal: 1.2 million United Kingdom vehicles affected

VW said the diesel vehicles include 508,276 Volkswagen cars, 393,450 Audis, 76,773 Seats, 131,569 Škodas and 79,838 Volkswagen commercial vehicles.

The firm said it would contact owners to arrange for their cars – fitted with EA189 engines after 2009 – to be “corrected”.

A spokesperson said: “In the coming days, the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) details of affected cars will be released to retailers”. VW added that technical solutions will be submitted to the responsible authorities in October, with the company emphasising that affected vehicles are still technically safe and roadworthy.

“We are very sorry for the situation that has arisen and will do everything in our power to implement necessary upgrades as efficiently as possible”, Terje Male, managing director of Harald A. Moller AS, was quoted as saying.

“At that time we will confirm our next steps to remove the software from customer vehicles”.

VW, which faces a fine to the tune of $18 billion, admitted that 11 million cars were fitted with the software that aided manipulation of emission tests.

As a result, it has been suggested that a few of VW’s diesel vehicles are emitting higher levels of NOx and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on the road than what is permitted in regulated emissions testing.

In a statement, VW Ireland said it was still working with its various factories to establish the exact numbers affected in each local market.

As they prepare to haul Volkswagen officials before Congress, lawmakers are seeking evidence about how VW was able to cheat on emissions tests and how the German automaker was ultimately caught. They did so by installing software which automatically switched the engine into a cleaner mode when being tested. “They must take personal responsibility”. We are surely going to have a lot of people suing for damages. One such lawsuit is now seeking class action status.

Volkswagen confirmed that nearly 1.2 million vehicles are affected in the UK.

The scale of the crisis prompted new chief Matthias Mueller, who replaced Martin Winterkorn, to call for a corporate overhaul, and promised to punish those involved with the fraudulent actions.