The recall was ordered by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority and applies to all cars sold in the EU28. Outside the EU28, each country will “clarify in detail which emissions classes of the EA 189 engine are in fact affected.” VW’s recalls stem from the company’s installation of a device and software in its clean-diesel (TDI) cars that was able to defeat emissions testing practices and reported better scores for the cars’ nitrogen oxide emissions than the cars were able to achieve under actual road conditions.
VW estimated that it has shipped about 11 million cars with the defeat device. In the United States, about 482,000 vehicles from model years 2009 through 2014 are affected, and VW diesel owners can check here to see if their car is included. VW has set up similar websites in EU countries, according to Thursday’s news release.
Volkswagen also said that it is still working on a fix:
Work on the technical solutions detailed in the plan of measures is currently proceeding at full speed. Remedial action on the vehicles will begin in January 2016 – at no cost to our customers. The technical solutions can involve software as well as hardware measures. These are currently being developed for each affected series and each affected model year. All measures will first be presented to the responsible authorities. Volkswagen will subsequently inform the owners of these vehicles over the next weeks and months.
While likely to be costly, the solution is not as likely to deliver on VW’s original promise of a clean diesel-powered car with the kind of performance drivers might get from a gasoline-powered vehicle. The company can fix the emissions problem relatively cheaply and quickly; maintaining the cars’ performance as it does so is an entirely different matter.
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