Volkswagen Isn’t Giving up on Diesels in the US

According to Volkswagen board chair Hans Dieter Poetsch, the cheats were initially implemented because engineers couldn’t find a way to make their “clean diesel” engines meet strict USA emissions standards. Steps that will cost the company a lot of money.

Diess said Tuesday night that the set of emissions regulations in the U.S.is different, specifically mentioning that the country is “more demanding in terms of nitrogen oxide and less demanding in terms of CO2”.

The company has not found a solution to fix these cars even after three months and if a German daily called Sueddeutsche Zeitung is to be believed, the company will be buying back a staggering 1,15,000 vehicles affected by the cheat code. Based on a formula outlined in the complaint for four violations of the Clean Air Act for each of the 580,000 cars affected, the penalties in theory could reach $46 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Tynan.

On Monday, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against VW for the use of the emissions devices, which involve computer software that can detect when cars are being tested.

“The U.S. economy continues to expand and the most important factors that drive demand for new vehicles are in place, so we expect to see a second consecutive year of record industry sales in 2016”, said GM chief economist Mustafa Mohatarem.

The day before his speech, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen Group, saying months of negotiations over a fix to its cars have not yielded resolution.

At CES, Diess also indicated to Reuters that the company would not give up on diesels in North America, stating that they still had a role to play in some segments, specifically sport utility vehicles.

The head of the German consumer associations’ federation, Klaus Mueller, said that a buy-back option would offer a “pragmatic and quick solution” for vehicle owners in Germany, as well. A concrete decision in regards to this is to be made by the end of January.

In Europe, at least, fixing the cheat was relatively easy for Volkswagen Group, with the approved fix taking under half an hour in most Volkswagen and Audi models.

VW is yet to say how it will fix thousands of the cars. Software Upgrade Volkswagen is also proposing that some United States cars can be fixed with a simple software upgrade, while others will require hardware. The company showed an emissions-free concept van reminiscent of its hippie-era Microbus at the CES in Las Vegas and has said it’ll invest more heavily in electric cars to woo back buyers.