VW to offer quick fix for diesel engines in Europe

A statement issued by Volkswagen said: “The final technical solution for the 1.2-litre diesel engine will be presented to the Federal Motor Transport Authority at the end of the month and is expected to comprise a software update”.

The German automaker will update its emissions control software on over 85,000 Volkswagen Group vehicles equipped with the affected V6 TDI engine.

There is worrying news for people in Europe that have an affected VW due to the diesel scandal.

The California Air Resources Board gave Volkswagen AG 45 business days to deliver the plan for the 2009 and newer VW, Audi and Porsche models, according to a statement Wednesday from the agency.

Earlier this month, the auto maker also said it found “unexplained inconsistencies” in carbon dioxide emissions from more of its vehicles. A software update will fix the largest, 2.0-liter engines, VW said.

Following the discovery of its emission cheating scheme, Volkswagen did not deny it and admitted that it did rig some tests for cars destined to be released in the United States and Europe. The company’s smaller, 2.0-liter engines, which originally sparked the massive scandal back in September, are not affected by Audi’s announcement yet. Replacing the software would cost in the “mid-double-digit millions of euros”, according to Audi.

One of the AECDs on the Audi engines is regarded as a “defeat device” under US law, Audi conceded.

Volkswagen said the fix should retain most, if not all of the vehicle’s prior performance and fuel economy, which has been a chief concern for some owners. The company doesn’t yet know how they must be fixed, but the solution could be more intricate and therefore more expensive than the repairs to similar cars in Europe because of stricter US emissions standards. The EPA had alleged that Volkswagen cheated on tests on other six cylinder vehicles and said that it would be carrying out further investigations on cars in the near term.

The EPA says the first device related to temperature conditioning of the exhaust-gas cleaning system is considered a defeat device. “Volkswagen is committed to making things right and regaining the trust of our valued customers”.

From there, Volkswagens hope to rectify all EA189 engines over the course of 2016, with recalls in some markets beginning in January.