Volkswagen Given March 24 Deadline to Disclose Status of Diesel Fix

Volkswagen has been given a March 24 deadline to disclose whether or not it has found a fix for the 600,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. involved in the dieselgate scandal, Automotive News reports.

“Six months is long enough” to determine if this is a fixable problem, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco told the news outlet. “This is an ongoing problem.”

Back in September, the German automaker acknowledged that “cheat devices” had been engineered into its vehicles to fool emissions tests. Affected vehicles were found to emit up to 40 times more than the permitted levels of nitrogen oxides.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department sued Volkswagen up to $46 billion for the violation. The Volkswagen Group, including Audi and Porsche, are currently banned from selling diesel vehicles in the U.S.

The government has already rejected the automaker’s initial plan to fix the emissions issue in 2.0-liter TDI engines in nearly half a million vehicles. A plan to fix models with the 3.0-liter TDI V-6 was submitted earlier this month.

“We are committed to resolving these matters as quickly as possible,” Robert Giuffra, an attorney for the automaker, told Breyer during a hearing this week. Giuffra said Volkswagen was making progress in its efforts to reach a settlement with several government agencies including the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Air Resources Board.

Breyer indicated that Volkswagen has looked at several options including some that are “not the most advantageous for the company” and that the automaker would be making some difficult decisions with “serious consequences.” Although costly, one possibility the automaker previously mentioned included buybacks of affected vehicles.

Former FBI director Robert Mueller, named as a settlement adviser, has met with the senior Volkswagen engineer heading the fix. Now, the federal judge wants Mueller to also meet with the automaker’s top executives. In the meantime, Volkswagen has hired a German law firm to advise it about potential liabilities regarding the dieselgate scandal.

The automaker has also postponed its 2015 results and delayed an annual shareholders’ meeting because of the ongoing issue.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)

The post Volkswagen Given March 24 Deadline to Disclose Status of Diesel Fix appeared first on Motor Trend.

from Motor Trend http://ift.tt/1QCu2Rj