Volkswagen's massive recall will start in January, CEO says

WOLFSBURG: -- Volkswagen plans to start in January a massive recall of its cars whose software cheated diesel emissions tests, and to have them all fixed by the end of 2016.

A software update will be enough for most of the 11 million vehicles potentially concerned, but some could need new injectors and catalyzers, Chief Executive Matthias Müller said in an interview published on Wednesday (October 7) in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Müller also warned that the carmaker would need to slash costs to cope with the scandal that has hammered its reputation and market value.

Volkswagen has already set aside 6.5 billion euros for the repairs, but that won’t be enough, the CEO said: Volkswagen will have to slim down and delay investments.

On Tuesday, Müller told some 20,000 employees gathered at the company’s German headquarters that the changes would not be painless. He did not say how many job cuts they might entail.




-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-10-08

and how will the cars perform after just a software update. If it performs as well, then there was no need for the cheat software in the first place. I think the VW car owners will see a significant drop in performance and fuel economy. In the UK cars are taxed according to their emissions. Will the owners be allowed to continue to drive their cars and under pay their road tax?

I have seen in recent articles that VW is considering giving some owners a full refund. This may be a hint of how difficult they are finding it to meet emission regulations without major modifications.