Cars and Drivers

Volkswagen to Begin European Recall in January

Paul Ausick

Published: December 24, 2015 12:20 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:44 pm

The first part of Volkswagen’s nightmare may be behind it, but the second part is just about to begin. How does the company fix the 11 million vehicles it sold with the rigged emissions control device?

In Europe, where about 8.5 million of the affected vehicles were sold, owners of the two-liter version of the vehicles will be directed to visit a local dealer for a software update beginning in January. Owners of the 1.2-liter version of the vehicles will be asked to visit their local dealers beginning later in the spring.

The 1.6-liter version of the turbo-diesel also will get the software revision and a new plastic hose connected to the air intake system. This fix is scheduled to begin in September.

The software repair will not alter the cars’ performance according to VW’s CEO. That leads to the obvious question: If VW can install a software fix now that is completely legal, why did the company cheat in the first place? To save a few hours of coding costs?
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The Financial Times noted:

However, once the cars are fixed, motoring bodies, law firms and consumer magazines will scrutinise them for the slightest wavering in performance. Any deviation from previous levels could further irritate customers and give them grounds to sue VW for damages.

In the United States, VW has submitted a proposed repair to both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), but neither agency has yet approved the fix. CARB has said it will issue a decision in mid-January. The total number of diesel vehicles sold in the United States that included the cheating software is around 500,000.