VW scandal: German regulator expands emissions probe to 23 brands

The Environmental Protection Agency included cars with this V6 engine among those that come with emissions-cheating software, but VW has denied editing emissions figures for cars powered by the V6 diesel.

Many owners are angry at the company for cheating because they paid extra for the cars to be environmentally sensitive without losing peppy acceleration.

It is additionally offering free roadside help to the individuals who have claimed their cars for a long time. “As we work tirelessly to develop a remedy, we ask for your continued patience”, the statement continued. VW says it hopes owners see this as a first step towards restoring trust.

Owners will not be required to sign anything giving up their right to sue Volkswagen or forcing them into arbitration, spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said Monday. Diess said the offer was being made in the interests of “full and swift clarification” of the scandal that has shaken the company.

The company is facing more than 200 separate class-action lawsuits that have been filed in the US, causing diesel cars to drop in value.

The average auction prices of VW diesel models have dropped almost $2,100, or 16.1 percent, since the EPA announcement.

It has so far failed to explain how 11 million VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat diesel models worldwide were apparently fitted with the software, which activated emission controls during testing.

So far, Volkswagen officials have been mum about plans to repurchase cars. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, but his replacement, Matthias Mueller, is a longtime company employee, as is the board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch.

The person added that Volkswagen already has an ombudsman system that allows employees to provide information anonymously about any wrongdoing.

That’s not to say that the Federal Trade Commission won’t complain when Volkswagen’s fix puts a dent in the fuel economy that buyers were promised.

Obviously the emissions scandal has upset quite a lot of people, including Greenpeace activists, with the company misleading millions of customers around the world, as well as employees within the company after it was found to be cheating emissions tests for the past several years.

About 500,000 Volkswagen vehicles with 2-liter and 4-liter cylinder diesel engines sold in the United States market are falling below the USA emission standards.