Raids conducted on VW locations

German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has expressed support to Volkswagen’s employees after he travelled to the company’s hometown, and urged the corporation to be pro-active in clearing up its emissions scandal.

German news agency DPA reported searches were also carried out at private locations including the apartments of a few VW employees.

In Germany, prosecutors from the state of Lower Saxony said raids were carried out to “secure documents and data carriers that, in view of possible offences, can provide information about the exact conduct of company employees and their identities in the manipulation of exhaust emissions of diesel vehicles”.

Also on Thursday, VW’s top U.S. executive, Michael Horn, appeared before a subcommittee in Congress to answer questions about the on-board computer software the company installed in about 11 million diesel-powered cars to trick emissions tests.

A spokesman said it was “also in the interest of Volkswagen” for there to be “a prompt and thorough explanation” of the scandal.

“It is clear that the company must clear this up”. Dr. Ferdinand Piech, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Volkswagen. He said it spoke of a recall for vehicles with 2-liter, 1.6-liter and 1.2-liter engines. He said 1.6-liter vehicles will need “an engineering modification that according to Volkswagen shouldn’t be expected before September 2016”.

Volkswagen said in an emailed response to questions about the report that “whether and to what extent this software actually intervenes improperly is now still the object of internal and external tests”.