Germany sets 10-day deadline for Volkswagen to address 'Diesel-Emissions Problem'

The problems for the German car Giant, Volkswagen, have just begun. Ever since the news about its emission scandal broke, Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen Chief Executive, resigned; reports came that no less than 25 lawsuits involving claimants from all 50 states in the U.S. have been filed against the company and its shares have plunged as much as 40 percent after it admitted to U.S. regulators that it programmed its car to detect when they were being tested and alter the running of their diesel engines to conceal their true emissions.

The company said that new vehicles from the VW Group with EU 6 diesel engines currently available in the European Union comply with legal requirements and environmental standards. Discrepancies relate to vehicles with Type EA 189 engines, involving some eleven million vehicles worldwide. 

Now the VW group has appointed former Porsche boss Matthias Mueller as the new CEO. Whether Mueller will be able to save this present day “Titanic”, only time will tell, but as of now he is faced with the herculean task of fixing millions of cars.

“Nothing can justify deception and manipulation,” Mr. Mueller told group executives according to prepared remarks seen by The Wall Street Journal. “The outrageous misconduct at Volkswagen that has come to light in recent days hurts and annoys me immensely,” Mr. Mueller said. “The aim is to regain lost confidence. This requires an uncompromising and consistent clarification,” and enhanced compliance and governance structures.

According to Car and Driver, the company has received a letter from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, signed by transport minister Alexander Dobrindt, demanding it to present a binding plan and schedule to fix the 11 million “cheat code” diesel cars by October 7.

If Volkswagen fails to deliver a viable solution by the set date, the situation could become worse. According to Dobrindt, the German government would be left with no choice but to ban the 2.8 million affected cars from driving on that country’s roads. Switzerland has already banned affected cars from being sold, new or used; the U.S. division of VW issued a stop-sale order on new diesel VWs last week and other countries are investigating their options.