VW executive: Any fix for car owners could take year or more

Yesterday the company also presented its plans to Germany’s KBA watchdog on how it intends to refit diesel vehicles and have them in compliance with emissions standards in its home country.

Chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned after the scandal broke and was replaced with Porsche boss Matthias Mueller, 62.

“We understand the disappointment and frustration felt by our customers, dealers and partners in Australia and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause”, Volkswagen Group Australia managing director John White said. He acknowledged that to the best of his knowledge, the defeat devices were installed deliberately to skirt tests, because company technology could not keep up with USA and European emission standards.

Regulators have refused to certify Volkswagen’s latest diesel models after the auto maker conceded it used software on vehicles with model years between 2009 and 2015 to cheat on emissions tests.

“‘I did not think that something like this was possible at the Volkswagen Group”, Horn said in his prepared remarks.

Mr. Horn in 2014 “did not know, nor was he informed, that Volkswagen vehicles included the defeat device software”, a Volkswagen spokeswoman said. Michael Horn introduces the new Volkswagen Passat during a reveal event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Monday, September 21, 2015, in New York.

He added: ‘We will get them those answers’.

A few 11 million VW diesel cars built since 2008 have been affected by the scandal.

Investigations have been launched worldwide to find out what happened in order to hold those involved responsible.

Volkswagen recently admitted to cheating emissions testing with its four-cylinder diesel cars by using a piece of software called a “defeat device”. “Those of us from Michigan take great pride in having a hand in numerous cars on the road today and we appreciate the challenges automakers face to meet consumer demands year after year, but reports of Volkswagen selling cars with devices aimed at skirting the law can not, and will not be tolerated”.

Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer told the paper that wouldn’t reassure current owners waiting to know what can be done to make their vehicles compliant – a simple software update or the retrofitting of more complicated hardware.

VW is also working on a solution to the problem. He added that the full remedy could take years. The company has set up a service line and website for the public to access. French authorities are also going after the company following the rediscovery last month by the US Environmental Protection Agency that it was rigging its emissions tests.

Buyers of VW cars and the company may have benefitted from more than $50m in these subsidies because the cars were labelled as being environmentally friendly, the committee said.