VW UK boss apologises for emissions scandal
The head of VW cars in the UK has apologised “unreservedly” for “significantly” letting down its customers in the diesel emissions scandal.
It comes days after the American boss of VW made a ‘genuine apology’ over the scandal which has affected more than eleven million cars worldwide.
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VW to recall 8.5m diesel cars amid emissions scandal
Volkswagen has said it will recall around 8.Five million diesel-engine cars in the EU after Germany requested servicing of the vehicles following the emissions scandal.
The manufacturer said it would need to be determined outside the 28-nation EU which classes of engine EA one hundred eighty nine were affected.
The latest engine generation EA two hundred eighty eight is not affected, it added.
Germany orders mandatory recall of all illegal VW cars
German transport chiefs have demanded that all Volkswagen cars sold with software that enabled them to evade diesel emissions testing be recalled.
The Federal Motor Transport Authority has rejected a Volkswagen proposal for a voluntary recall, according to the dpa news agency, with transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, to announce details of the recall.
VW CEO Matthias Mueller said a recall could embark in January and be finished by the end of next year in Germany.
The company has said around eleven million cars worldwide, Two.8 million of them in Germany, have the software that duped US inspectors.
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VW UK boss: We will do 'the right thing' for customers
The UK boss of Volkswagen has promised to “do the right thing” and “fully resolve” issues following the diesel emissions scandal.
Paul Willis told MPs at the environmental audit committee that the company wants customers to know that they “do care” and “indeed want to put these things right”.
“Volkswagen is deeply sorry. we have fallen brief of standards that are expected of us,” he said.
“We are continuing to work cautiously and diligently to remedy the affected engines.
“Since last weekend we’ve began to send individual letters to each and every affected customer. It is paramount our customers know we do care and we truly want to put these things right.
“I promise with my dedicated team we will fully resolve this issue, do the right thing and regain trust in our brand.”
Car industry chief: Emissions rigging 'goes no further than VW'
The head of Britain’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says he has has received assurances from the car industry that emissions test rigging goes no further than Volkswagen.
Mike Hawes told MPs at the Environmental Audit Select Committee hearing that the SMMT was not lounging with the emissions figures it publishes.
VW emissions scandal: UK customers want compensation
UK customers affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal want compensation, a survey has found.
The German car-maker has not confirmed whether owners of cars fitted with the software used to cheat environmental tests in the US will be awarded a payout.
Earlier this week Volkswagen’s UK boss Paul Willis said it was “premature” to discuss compensation.
Mr Willis is due before the Commons environmental audit committee this morning.
Around 1.Two million vehicles in the UK are affected by the scandal.
2016 VW diesels software probed amid emissions scandal
Volkswagen has disclosed to US regulators that there is extra suspect software in its two thousand sixteen diesel models that would potentially help their harass systems run cleaner during government tests.
The manufacturer told Associated Press that the “auxiliary emissions control device” at issue operates differently from the “defeat” device software included in the company’s two thousand nine to two thousand fifteen models disclosed last month.
The freshly exposed software makes a pollution control catalyst fever up quicker, improving spectacle of the device that separates smog-causing nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases.
VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said: “Volkswagen has disclosed, in the application process for the model year two thousand sixteen Two.0 TDI models, an auxiliary emissions control device. This has the function of a warmup strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies.
“The agencies are presently evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting extra information.”
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UK boss: VW 'couldn't react any quicker' to emissions scandal
The boss of VW in Britain has said they could not have reacted any swifter in response to diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the car-markers.
More than 1,000 cars fitted with pollution test-cheating software were sold in the UK after it emerged that this country was also affected by the issue.
Speaking to a committee of MPs, UK managing director Paul Willis said he halted sales of affected cars within hours of establishing which make and models were affected and could not have acted any swifter.
“I couldn’t stop selling cars if I didn’t know which cars were affected,” he told MPs – telling he received those details on September 30, eight days after it emerged Europe was affected and two days after he told the Government sales would stop when they could.
“There were eight days inbetween when we very first knew it affected Europe until I stopped selling cars and the reason for that is the complexity of the number of cars involved.
“There are sixty different models, there are five different brands, there are three different engines and two different transmissions.
“I found the VIN numbers out precisely at 9am and at 1:30pm, once I had clarified it with the computer systems, I stopped selling the cars voluntarily.”
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the committee that VW “have behaved in an appalling way” during the global scandal.
Transport secretary: VW's behaviour 'appalling'
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the committee that VW “have behaved in an appalling way” during the diesel emissions scandal.
The devices being used to mask emissions had been outlawed as long ago as 1988, he said, adding:
It is fairly unbelievable to think that a company of the size and reputation of VW has been doing something like this and finding ways around regulations.
I think they are going to suffer very substantial harm as a result of it and they deserve to, fairly honestly.
It draws questions we then have to ask about the overall testing of emissions and that’s exactly what we are going to be doing.
The emissions scandal was sparked by US environmental regulators who found that VW had installed defeat device software which switched engines to a cleaner mode when they underwent official testing.
VW emissions scandal: 1.Two million cars affected in UK
Over a million cars in the UK are said to be affected by the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal.
At a hearing in Westminster, the transport committee heard from the UK boss of VW that almost 1.Two million cars are affected in Britain and the recall will begin in the fresh year.
During the grilling, UK managing director Paul Willis – who embarked proceedings with an apology – conceded that there may be “some risk” that a target to do all the work needed by the end of two thousand sixteen would be missed.
Some 400,000 would need switches to their fuel injection systems as well as having the software liquidated, he said – however he was incapable to give any technical explanation to the frustration of MPs.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said VW had told his department that 583,000 Volkswagen cars will be affected by the recall in the UK, along with 393,000 Audis, 132,000 Skodas and 77,000 Seats – making Britain the 2nd worst affected country in Europe after Germany.
VW car owners in the UK who are worried that their vehicle may be affected can check online here.
VW very first sold UK diesel vehicle with rigged software in 2008
Diesel Volkswagen vehicles tooled with software rigged to deceive emissions tests were very first sold in Britain in 2008, the UK boss of the car manufacturer has said.
Speaking to the transport committee, Paul Willis said:
It seems around two thousand eight from the information I have at the moment.
I knew nothing about this subject until 19th September this year, when I very first heard it on the news from the United States.”