US Officials Pressure Volkswagen to Buy Back Diesel Models

And Volkswagen made even more public acts of contrition.

In the two months since news broke that hundreds of thousands of diesel cars – mostly VWs, but also a few Audi models – had their emissions devices doctored to beat USA tailpipe tests, sales of Audis have been at record levels compared to the same months in years past, according to company data.

Separately, U.S. Senators Ed Markey of MA and Richard Blumenthal of CT on Thursday released a letter calling on the automaker to buy back diesel vehicles that don’t meet pollution standards. The company met with the agencies on Thursday, with a final submission on Friday.

Investigation is under way in South Korea to determine whether Volkswagen had cheated on emission results for local customers.

Horn said he understood customers’ anger and frustration, but warned that the vehicle fix process “will take time”.

But until a fix is ready, “we can’t stop apologizing”, Horn said.

“And we need a remedy to our customers, our dealers and the American people”.

A California Air Resources Board spokesman said officials at the automaker are scheduled to meet Friday with CARB and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to present detailed proposals for recalling and fixing about 482,000 vehicles sold in the United States with diesel engines that emit more smog-forming pollutants than allowed by law.

And a similar meeting in Germany is slated for Monday, said a person familiar with the plans.

It’s no secret that the offending diesel-powered models from the Volkswagen Group were fitted with Bosch engine management systems, but Bosch was quick to volunteer its innocence once the dieselgate scandal broke.

Bosch, a dominant supplier of the components used in “clean diesel” cars, was an early promoter of their adoption in the USA market. It could also cut the horsepower of the cars, which could open them up to litigation from consumers. “Now we move to the future and the real stuff now…” A spokeswoman said the company is cooperating with the agencies. “I’m not sure they have answers”, she said. Yes, you have to continue doing business. VW U.S. CEO Michael Horn has said it could take a year or longer for those cars to be fixed.