Have fixes for 90% of emissions scandal cars in Europe: Volkswagen

But it seems, as we reported when the story broke, that although the EPA have declared this to be a defeat device, and therefore illegal in the U.S., the same does not apply in the United Kingdom and Europe where there are hugely more VW Group cars fitted with the 3.0 litre diesel. A fix for 1.2-liter engines affected by the emissions cheating scandal is still being readied.

Europe’s largest auto maker has halted sales of all those vehicles in the USA amid discussions with regulators, a company spokeswoman said. Cars with 1.6-liter engines will require a few new equipment in addition to the revised software.

“Our assumption that substantive changes to the motor would be necessary have not come true”, Mueller said in the speech. The fixes will range from simple software update for two-litre diesel engines, to more complex solutions for 1.6-litre models. Volkswagen and officials from its Audi luxury unit met this week with regulators to discuss possible fixes for those vehicles.

Volkswagen has subsequently revealed that beyond the nitrogen oxide scam, it had also understated carbon dioxide emissions of 8,00,000 vehicles, including petrol cars.

Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal widened Friday as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that clandestine software allowing six-cylinder Volkswagen diesel engines to cheat on pollution tests is on more models than originally thought. We can still clearly remember how VW initially rejected the findings, while Porsche officials used words like “shocked” and “surprised”.

Audi maintains that the auxiliary emissions control software is legal in Europe, but its spokesperson Brad Stertz admitted that the company failed to “properly notify regulators” of its existence.

Mueller, appointed in the wake of the scandal, said he plans to present an interim report on the status of the investigation in mid-December as the final results will still take several months.

“We are not going to make the mistake of economizing on our future”, he said, noting that the automaker will still direct money towards developing new technologies and will continue with joint-venture plans in China.

“We’re driving cautiously over the coming months, but we know where we want to go and we want to ensure that the Volkswagen company comes out of the current situation strengthened”, Mueller said in a statement.