Volkswagen has indicated it would recall up to 11m vehicles following the revelations it had cheated US diesel emissions tests. According to a Reuters report, newly appointed chief executive Matthias Mueller said the German carmaker had drawn up a "comprehensive" refit plan to be submitted to regulators aimed at ensuring its diesel models complied with emissions standards.
It would ask customers "in the next few days" to have diesel models equipped with manipulated software refitted and brief authorities on technical fixes in October, Mueller reportedly told a closed-door meeting of about 1,000 top managers at the automaker's Wolfsburg headquarters last night (28 September).
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Germany's KBA regulator has set a 7 October deadline for VW to come up with "binding measures and a timetable" for ensuring that all its diesel cars meet emissions standards.
Volkswagen has said about 11m vehicles were fitted with software capable of cheating emissions tests, including 5m at the VW brand, 2.1m at Audi, 1.2m at Skoda and 1.8m light commercial vehicles.
"We are facing a long trudge and a lot of hard work," Mueller said in the speech text seen by Reuters. "We will only be able to make progress in steps and there will be setbacks."
Separately, Mueller said Volkswagen's troubled core VW division, struggling with high fixed costs and low profit margins, would in future be able to act as independently as premium flagship brands Audi and Porsche: "The new company structure is a first step and the basis for a modernisation of VW, for a new and better company."
