Volkswagen emissions scandal: Switzerland bans sales of VW Euro5 diesel models

It doesn’t apply to cars now in production with “euro 6” engines, which aren’t affected by the emissions scandal.

The automaker’s Supervisory Board selected Mueller during a meeting in Germany Friday, the company said.

“At no point was the safety of our customers in dangers, and we will now have even stricter compliance”, he said.

The notice came one week after the U.S. Environmental Protection agency and the air board announced they were investigating Volkswagen for equipping its diesel cars with defeat devices.

The scandal has already caused the company’s CEO Martin Winterkorn to resign earlier this week.

The Swiss road office said only 1.2-litre, 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesel cars in the Euro5 emissions category will be affected by the ban and not those in the newer Euro6 emissions category.

“We don’t yet have figures for how many of these 11 million cars that are apparently affected are in Europe”, Dobrindt said. It includes all VW models – as well as Seat, Skodas and others in the VW group.

Without the defeat devices, which were deactivated after Volkswagen met the emission requirements, the VW and Audi vehicles were emitting nitrogen oxides (NOx), a greenhouse gas, at levels up to 40 times the permissible standard.

Michael Horn will remain as president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, but its US Canada and Mexico markets will be “combined and significantly strengthened” to form a new “North America region”.

Independent auto dealerships sued Volkswagen AG in California on Thursday over losses they say they will incur following revelations that the company fitted some diesel models with software to cheat on United States of America vehicle emissions tests.

“The supervisory board has, on the basis of current information, recommended suspending some employees immediately until the whole case is cleared up”, Huber said.

And the European Union’s executive Commission called on national authorities “to look into the implications for vehicles sold in Europe and ensure that EU pollutant emission standards are scrupulously respected”.

The scandal, which emerged a week ago when USA officials publicly accused the company of cheating and launched a probe, has now gone global with French and South Korean authorities also announcing investigations.