Wolfsburg - Volkswagen has steered clear of a fresh blow in its emissions-rigging scandal, saying its newer diesel engine, which had raised concerns, was not fitted with software designed to dupe testers.
“It is now confirmed” that the questionable software fitted on 11 million vehicles “is not installed” in the type of diesel engines that had replaced the EA189 engines; the latter being at the heart of the massive scandal.
A company spokesman had earlier said that the carmaker was checking whether another engine type, the EA288, was also equipped with the cheating device. Volkswagen said that the EA288 engines within the European Union are not fitted with the software and consequently “comply with legal requirements and environmental standards”.
BIG REPAIR BILL
The revelations about VW's manipulation of its diesel engines have sparked one of the biggest scandals in the history of the automobile sector.
In addition to the costs of repairing so many vehicles, the once-respected automaker faces billions of euros in potential fines and legal costs, aside from the incalculable fallout from lost sales and diminished customer trust.
Investigations over the diesel engines equipped with the pollution cheating device are under way in several countries, including the United States, Italy, Spain, France and Germany itself.
Volkswagen is preparing for a massive recall of affected vehicles, which it has to repair so they can meet environmental standards in the countries concerned.
The VW spokesman Thursday revealed that around three million of these are 1.6 litre diesel engine vehicles, which would need significant repairs.
Others with 1.2 litre and 2.0 litre engines would only require a software update.
Volkswagen is facing an unprecedented huge repair job at staggering costs, analysts say.
“I can't think of any other recall that would be as comprehensive,” Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports magazine, told Bloomberg News. “It's really an expensive rework.”
Volkswagen has so far set aside 6.5 billion euros (R97bn) to do the repairs, but Bloomberg cited analysts who put the figure at 15-20 billion euros (R223-298bn).
AFP