VW brand chief says no evidence of further cheats – DPA

It says the company won’t seek firing or damages, but can’t get anyone off the hook for ongoing criminal probes.

The offer applies to workers covered by collective bargaining agreements and expires on November 30.

Volkswagen is struggling to cope with the biggest crisis of its history over its admission in September that it had fitted 11 million vehicles with devices created to cheat pollution tests.

Volkswagen announced Friday sales of it cars bearing the VW badge decreased by 5.3 percent in October, with the carmaker shifting 490,000 units globally.

“No one can tell that today”, Osterloh said in a joint interview with VW brand chief executive Herbert Diess, adding there were structures within the company that are “problematic”. Under normal driving conditions, the vehicles exceeded limits for nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that can cause health problems.

Volkswagen has said it hired advisory firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd and USA law firm Jones Day to investigate under what circumstances the company installed software into diesel cars that changed engine settings to reduce emissions whenever the vehicle was put through tests. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, but his replacement, Matthias Mueller, is a longtime company employee, as is the board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch. German prosecutors are also looking into the matter.

Volkswagen AG (VW) set a deadline at the end of this month for its whistle-blower program created to encourage workers to disclose information about the automaker’s two emissions scandals in a move to speed up investigations. According to a study by the Institute for Business Ethics, a few forty whistleblowers came forward about the practice, extending the scandal’s reach into upper management.