Volkswagen promises emissions fix ‘in coming weeks or months’

Volkswagen (VW) will likely have to buy back or replace about 115,000 of its diesel vehicles equipped with emission cheating technology in the U.S., approximately one fifth of all affected cars in America.

Volkswagen is facing a legal case for installing “cheat devices” in its diesel vehicles to bypass emission control norms. “In recent weeks we’ve made significant progress”.

In Europe, VW plans to start recalling this month some 8.5 million affected vehicles in the region for a re-fit or adjustment.

BBC reports that Volkswagen is being investigated by regulatory agencies in different parts of the world including United States, the United Kingdom, France, South Korea, Canada, Germany and, now, Australia.

The source said the German carmaker would hold further talks with the Californian Air Resources Board this week and with the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) next week, and still hoped to reach a solution by a mid-January deadline.

“Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission control systems, breach the public trust, endanger public health and disadvantage competitors”, said Assistant Attorney General John C Cruden for Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Senior Justice Department officials said that Volkswagen knew what it was doing and intentionally violated the law.

Following the events of Volkswagen’s emission scandal that involved installing software to cheat emissions standards, the automaker is now taking the necessary steps to rectify the situation.

The revelation signals a turning point in the now openly fractious relations between Volkswagen and USA investigators, after claims by the Justice Department, in its own inquiry this week, that the company had “impeded and obstructed” regulators and provided “misleading information”. Criminal charges would require a higher burden of proof than the civil lawsuit.

In September, Volkswagen admitted to the EPA’s allegations that it sold cars for years that exceeded federal pollution standards.

“I find it frustrating that, despite public statements professing cooperation and an expressed desire to resolve the various investigations that it faces following its calculated deception, Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF – news) is, in fact, resisting cooperation by citing German law”, he said. The regulator declared it will insist on the idea of making VW come up with “effective appropriate remedies as expeditiously as possible at no cost to owners”.