Volkswagen to recall diesel cars implicated in emissions scandal from January

“All the cars should be fixed by the end of 2016”, Mueller told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Reuters reports.

All investments that were not deemed absolutely necessary would be abandoned or delayed, he said.

It’s the latest in a line of announcements about exactly how many vehicles in each country are affected.

With agencies in the United States of America now reviewing the test results of other vehicle companies, the answer to that question may emerge quite soon. The automobiles taken off the marketplace represent 3% of the stock in Britain of VW.

He did not give the names of those executives suspended, but three of them – whose suspensions had been previously disclosed – are people associated with the development and deployment of the engines with the software.

The Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal could have a major impact on the German economy, according to new research. The sources said it was unclear whether he would attend the Audi board meeting.

In the USA alone, it could face fines of $US 18 billion.

An Audi spokesman said the affected models include the A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5. The company has prepared €6.5 billion to pay for repairs, however, that may not be enough to cover fines and damages.

Winterkorn, who has served as VW’s CEO since 2007, said he is “shocked by the events of the past few days”, and is “stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group”.

Eight million are in the 28-nation European Union – including 2.8 million in Germany, 1.2 million in Britain and 900,000 in France. For now, the company will delay or cancel new projects that are not considered essential, he said, according to a text of his remarks. “We want to make the company slimmer, more decentralised and give the brands more responsibility”, Mr Mueller said. “So I view it as our task to work with all our strength for the security of these jobs”. This could ultimately funnel down to the resale value of VW vehicles but it’s too early to say on what scale. But “at the moment … there are no consequences for jobs”, including those of temporary workers, he added.

ONLINE TOOL: A screen grab from Volkswagen Australia’s website showing the tool to help Australian customers check if their cars have the affected EA189 diesel engines.

Which manufacturers are involved in the diesel crisis and which are not? And it is why we will be intesifying the efficiency program. He also told them that the rebuilding process “won’t be painless”. Witter was the former CEO of the Volkswagen Financial Services unit.

What does this mean for emissions and mpg testing, how will it look in the future?

It then switches off this mode when the auto is on the road.

The two sources said the USA hearing was adding pressure on VW to provide concrete information about what caused the scandal.

The company will stand up in Congress on Wednesday to address the emissions scandal. And that’s why we will be intensifying our efficiency programme. As it said: “If VW can’t identify who knew what, aggressive lawyers may do so”.

There has been no comment from Volkswagen on claims that in extreme circumstances cars would be replaced.