VW Scandal: 1.189m Vehicles In UK Affected

However, even before the Volkswagen scandal, diesel was facing tough environmental challenges in Europe, where it makes up more than half of the engines in all cars sold.

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

The German carmaker also said that 1.8 million commercial vehicles are among those fitted with the sophisticated software to cheat on emission tests.

Only recently did VW admit to them that it had installed “defeat devices” in the cars to get around emissions standards.

Prosecutors in Germany announced that their investigation of the scandal has not yet uncovered any evidence against former VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

Spanish subsidiary SEAT said it fitted 700,000 vehicles with the EA 189 diesel engines in which Volkswagen has said there are “discrepancies”.

VW is working out how to refit the software in the 11 million diesel engines involved in the emissions scandal.

To begin with, the Group will inform the customers whose cars are affected and will refit them to correct the emission characteristics that were manipulated earlier. Once on the road, the cars would pump out as much as 40 times the allowed level of nitrogen oxides. “All vehicles are technically safe and roadworthy”, the company said in a written statement. “If you have a recalled vehicle, it will be in your interest to have it rectified as future purchasers will probably be checking the work has been done”.

The company said it would present authorities with its “technical solutions and measures” to fix the problem in October.

Seat is the latest VW brand to reveal it also used the emission cheat device.

“Customers with these vehicles will be kept informed over the coming weeks and months”, it added.

The company said last week it would set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in its third-quarter accounts to help cover the cost of the crisis.

Volkswagen is understood to have suspended the research and development heads of Audi, VW’s core passenger vehicle division and sports auto maker Porsche. “The total number of affected vehicles here is probably around the 100,000 mark, or perhaps even more”.

On newer models with the SCR system, Trahan said there were concerns within the company about the urea consumption being so great that it would require separate “fill-ups” every 5,000 miles, rather than the desired 10,000-mile intervals that are typical between engine oil changes.