Volkswagen ordered to recall 2.4 mn cars in Germany

Germany’s rare public snub to its biggest carmaker came after Volkswagen circumvented emissions regulations starting in 2008.

Asked to list people or things that they think of in connection with Germany, 63 percent mentioned Volkswagen, according to the book “How Germans Tick” published this year. “Customers have been left unsettled”. “So making this fix – while the cars are running safely – a mandatory one shows the political pressure”. Dobrindt said only 2.4 million needed to be recalled because the other 400,000 were no longer on the roads. “Such a unified procedure would be in the European spirit as well as in the interests of customers”.

Austrian authorities have already said a few 363,000 VW cars there are affected by the recall. Dobrindt said additional tests were under way that would include examining emissions outside the lab.

Tellingly, 74 per cent of affected VW owners said they thought the manufacturer had handled the crisis poorly while Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: ‘Volkswagen United Kingdom must set out an urgent timetable for redress to the owners of the affected vehicles’.

He indicated that the recall may last through 2016 because vehicles fitted with smaller 1.6 liter diesel engines will require physical adjustments rather than just a software update.

In the USA, the scandal is a huge embarrassment for Volkswagen that many analysts say could permanently harm its brand but is not regarded as a national disgrace or a potential economic or environmental disaster. “Germany will stay the No. 1 auto country”.

Automotive News reports that number will increase to 8.5 million for the whole of the European Union, or nearly a third of all the vehicles sold by VW in the region between 2009 and August this year. If the owner chose to ignore the recall notification and then had an accident as a result of the recalled item failing, who would carry the blame? The maker said that departure was “expressly not related” to the diesel scandal. There’s no timeline for when EPA will order the recalls, she said.

“Since last weekend we’ve started to send personal letters to each and every affected customer”.

However, Volkswagen’s hardship doesn’t look like it’s going to go away that soon, with recent reports showing that the VW of US CEO, Michael Horn, might have lied under oath in front of the Congress while a new type of defeat device that could be affecting 2016 diesel models is being investigated by EPA.

Mr Rudolph could not immediately be reached for comment.

The move marks the first official recall of vehicles that VW surreptitiously outfitted with software created to meet emissions tests, even though those diesels would go on to produce far higher pollution levels in real world operation.