VW dashes hopes of quick answers
VOLKSWAGEN’S (VW) said yesterday that it would take time to get to the bottom of its rigging of diesel emissions tests, hours before the car maker was due to give updates on its findings to German regulators and US lawmakers.
More than two weeks after it admitted to cheating US emissions tests, Europe’s largest car maker is under pressure to identify those responsible, to say how vehicles with illegal software will be fixed and whether it also cheated in Europe.
“Nobody is served by speculation or vague, preliminary progress reports,” Hans Dieter Poetsch told a news conference after being confirmed as the German company’s new chairman.
“Therefore it will take some time until we have factual and reliable results and can provide you with comprehensive information,” he added, declining to take any questions.
Later yesterday, VW was due to submit a plan to Germany’s KBA watchdog to spell out how it would make its diesel vehicles comply with emissions laws.
The German transport ministry said it had been assured by the company that the deadline would be met.
Today, VW’s top US executive will testify before a US congressional oversight panel. Both events come as investigations and lawsuits against the company continue to pile up.
According to a letter released yesterday, top senators on the US senate finance committee are investigating VW’s actions related to federal tax credits designed to reward consumers for buying environmentally-friendly vehicles.
Poetsch addressed reporters after the car maker’s 20-person supervisory board met at its headquarters in Wolfsburg to discuss the progress of its internal investigation into the biggest business crisis in the company’s 78-year history.
Wiped out
The scandal has wiped more than a third off its share price, forced out its long-time chief executive, led its new chief executive Matthias Müller to predict “massive cuts”, and sent shockwaves through both the global car industry and the German establishment.
One source close to the matter said there was a “certain degree of fright” among management ahead of US chief Michael Horn’s appearance before the congressional panel.
However, the source said it was too early to name those responsible for installing software in some diesel engines to manipulate emissions tests.
Poetsch promised US law firm Jones Day, which is conducting an external investigation, the company was “leaving no stone unturned”.
VW had said it might have to refit up to 11 million cars and vans worldwide, and Müller said in a newspaper interview yesterday recalls would start in January and would be completed by the end of 2016.
VW said the illegal software was not activated on the bulk of the 11 million vehicles, most of which were in Europe, leaving uncertainty over whether it rigged tests there.
The German transport ministry has said it did manipulate European tests too, but has not given details, making it unclear whether the company faces the same level of fines and lawsuits in Europe as in the US. – Reuters