The 11 million vehicles affected in the recent emissions scandal by Volkswagen will start being recalled in January. The news comes after Volkswagen admitted to using cheating devices in order to trick regulators in the United States that its diesel vehicles were compliant with required standards, when in actuality, they were emitting pollution up to forty times the allowed amount.
The company’s new CEO Matthias Mueller promises that all the cars involved in the scandal will be fixed by the end of 2016. Volkswagen has put aside more than $7.3 million to cover the cost of the recall.
Mueller says, “If everything goes as planned, we can start the recall in January. All the cars should be in order by the end of 2016.”
Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned shortly after news of the sandal was released to the public. He is currently facing a criminal investigation in Germany.
In most cases, Volkswagen will be able to simply apply a software update to fix the diesel engines. However, some vehicles will require new injectors and catalyzers. A temporary workshop will be established to fix the vehicles.
According to Mueller, only a few Volkswagen developers were aware of the tampered cars. He claims that the company’s top management was largely unaware. Meanwhile, four employees, including three senior managers that were in charge of engine development have already been suspended by the company. Others who were involved escaped while they could and took an early retirement.
For now, Mueller is focused on repairing the company’s tarnished image.
“Volkswagen made a serious mistake. We must answer for that. But bear in mind that there were no dead with us; our cars were and are safe.”
The German company has not been fined at this time. The United States could hit the automobile manufacturer with a fine of up to $18 billion. Volkswagen is supposedly capable of raising about $46 billion before it would be required to liquidate assets.
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