Ever since the “Dieselgate” scandal broke late last year, owners of Volkswagen cars around the world have been waiting to hear about a fix for the emissions issues. While Volkswagen in the U.S. has reached preliminary settlement guidelines, there has yet to be a fix for the affected cars approved by the U.S. Government. Europe, however, is another story.
Volkswagen announced on Sunday that it had received German regulatory approval for technical fixes on another 460,000 diesel cars that had the illicit emissions control software. This brings the number of vehicles cleared for repair to 5 million.
This approval by Germany’s motor vehicle authority KBA will cover vehicles in countries throughout Europe. 8.5 million of the 11 million vehicles globally affected by the emissions scandal are in Europe.
In the United States, the automaker still lacks technical fixes and is still in the process of testing hardware and software. If these fixes come to fruition, the automaker could avoid having to buy back some 475,000 vehicles in the United States.
The KBA signed off on the fixes for models with the smaller 1.2-litre diesel engines. This includes the Polo subcompact and the Spanish division Seat’s Ibiza model of vehicles.
Volkswagen models with the 1.2-litre and 2.0-litre engines only require a software update to the pollution control system. However, approximately 3 million 1.6-litre engines will require the installation of a mesh near the air filter in addition to the software update.
Volkswagen stated that the majority of the 8.5 million vehicles can be repaired this year. However, an unspecified number of vehicles will not be able to be fixed until sometime next year.
If you have been affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal by owning or leasing one of the affected models, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the “Strong Arm” attorneys at the law offices of John Foy & Associates. Our experienced attorneys will help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today.