VW CEO headed to Washington to meet with EPA chief

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller will travel to Washington, D.C. next week to personally meet with EPA officials and lawmakers.

“At this point, we haven’t identified a satisfactory way forward, but those discussions are going to continue”, McCarthy said.

“For owners who no longer want their auto, Volkswagen should buy back the vehicle at the fair market value that existed prior to the time at which Volkswagen’s fraudulent activity was made public”, Senators Richard Blumenthal of CT and Edward Markey of MA said in a letter to VW’s Horn. “We are really anxious to find a way for that company to get into compliance – and we’re not there yet”.

After earlier this week the U.S. Justice Department sued the German automaker for up to $48 billion, now Volkswagen is thinking to buy back no less than 115,000 U.S. cars affected by the real emissions scandal. VW could rack up additional civil penalties based on facts determined at trial. Volkswagen’s US chief, Michael Horn, said in October that those models would be the most complicated to bring into compliance.

VW first admitted in September that the suspect software was installed in cars with its popular 2.0-liter diesel engines. His meeting with the head of the EPA will take place one day before CARB is expected to announce whether it will approve or reject a technical solution proposed by the automaker.

Volkswagen Group is facing a time-consuming overhaul as the carmaker adopts a new company structure and adjusts the strategy of its brands in the wake of an emissions scandal, CEO Matthias Mueller told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. He has suggested a small number of software developers in Germany are to blame for the suspect computer code.

VW said the issue affected up to 11 million vehicles worldwide.

Also, in 2014, Hyundai and Kia paid $100 million to the USA, for violating the same environmental act.