Volkswagen to cut annual investments

Willis said that the repairs for diesel-powered vehicles that were sold within Europe would not be involving the installation of a completely new filtration system for emissions, which uses urea as an additive.

Volkswagen’s scandal surrounding its rigging of emission tests in many parts of the world had also had an impact on investor sentiment in Germany, the country’s ZEW economic think tank said Tuesday. The wonder-fluid will be used on all Volkswagen diesels in the future, both in Europe and North America, and the Germans want to implement the technology as soon as possible. “We are giving our product range and our core technologies a new focus”, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said in the statement.

Volkswagen will also accelerate its current efficiency programme.

Their new plan involves focusing now on plug-in hybrids with even greater range, high-volume pure electric vehicles with a range of up to 300km (186 miles) and even mild hybrid models equipped with a 48-volt power supply system.

VW will overhaul its diesel strategy to include “the best environmental technology”, develop a standardised architecture for its electric vehicles, and introduce an electric version of its Phaeton saloon auto.

There will be a major development thrust for the proven MQB standardized technical toolkit, where Volkswagen Passenger Cars holds responsibility for development within the Group network.

Around 400,000 Volkswagen Group vehicles in the United Kingdom fitted with the company’s Euro 5 1.6-litre diesel engine will need to be fitted with new fuel injectors as well as a software fix, the firm’s United Kingdom boss has said.

The decision shows that VW is still hanging on to the big symbolic high-tech projects crucial to its branding, despite last week’s decision to slash costs, and focus on only necessary projects in light of still unforeseeable costs related to the scandal. It would allow the development of “particularly emotional vehicle concepts” and an all-electric range of 250 km to 500 km, the statement said.

Diess continued: “Together with my Board of Management colleagues and the entire team we are working at top speed on these issues”.

McCabe further added that when the EPS has “all of the answers” from VW, it will be able “to make a determination” on the whether the device is legal or considered to be a “defeat device” created to evade the “emission” rules in the US.