VW to Start Recall of Cars Affected by Emissions Scandal in January 2016

VW’s new CEO, Matthias Muller, said the car giant expects to start a recall of cars affected by its emissions scandal in January 2016.

All affected cars will be fixed by the end of 2016, Matthias Muller told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Only a few employees have been involved in the scandal, he added in the interview.

Volkswagen has said emissions test-cheating software is present in 11 million diesel vehicles.

The automaker would also look into its various brands and models, singling out Bugatti, its supercar marque.

Earlier, Matthias Muller told employees at VW’s Wolfsburg home plant in Germany the company is facing changes that “will not be painless”.

All investments that were not deemed absolutely necessary would be abandoned or delayed, he said.

Technical solutions were “within view” and the firm would do everything it could to keep jobs secure, he added.

Future investment in plant, technology and vehicles would be put “under scrutiny”.

“We will do everything to ensure that Volkswagen will stand for good and secure jobs in the future,” Matthias Muller added.

The emissions scandal engulfed VW after it admitted cheating emissions tests in the US.

In Europe, Italy and France have opened investigations into the rigging of the tests.

VW is suspending the sale of 4,000 vehicles in the UK, saying the vehicles may be equipped with the device that cheated emissions tests in the US.

The move will involve vehicles across the VW group including the VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands.

VW said it was a temporary measure and that it intended to return the vehicles for sale once a fix is identified for the cars.

Despite the scandal that began almost two weeks ago, VW customers could still buy vehicles that had the rogue software.