Wednesday 30 September 2015

VW scandal: Action plan unveiled

Volkswagen AG has unveiled its action plan to correct the emissions characteristics of diesel vehicles.
In a first step, the company says customers affected will be informed that the emissions characteristics of their vehicles will be corrected in the near future. All vehicles are technically safe and roadworthy.

Under the action plan, Volkswagen and the other Group brands whose vehicles are affected will present the technical solutions and measures to the responsible authorities in October.

Customers with these vehicles will be kept informed over the coming weeks and months. All of the Group brands affected will set up national websites to update customers on developments. In the UK, the numbers of VW Group vehicles affected are: Volkswagen, 508,276; Audi, 393,450; SEAT, 76,773; Skoda, 131,569; and VW Commercial Vehicles, 79,838. Total, 1,189,906. Volkswagen will attempt to contact owners through VIN numbers..

An internal evaluation on Friday established that a service procedure is required for some five million vehicles from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand out of a total eleven million Group vehicles worldwide.

These vehicles from certain models and model years (such as the sixth generation Volkswagen Golf, the seventh generation Volkswagen Passat or the first generation Volkswagen Tiguan) are fitted with Type EA 189 diesel engines.

No explanation is given as to why the emission characteristics of VW Group diesel-engined vehicles need to be "corrected". Nor is there any hint of any differences in vehicle performance or fuel economy that owners may experience after the "correction".

VW executives meanwhile are breathing a huge sigh of relief that the EPA emission disclosures did not become manifest on the Press days of the Frankfurt Motor Show. That could have been a massive own goal.


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