Volkswagen chief executive officer hopes to reach an agreement with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday in Washington when he presents her with solutions.
Volkswagen's new chief executive plans to present remedies for fixing diesel engines that cheat on emissions tests when he meets with the top US environmental regulator this week.
Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said that as of now, Volkswagen (VW) has only given technical data to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). But he hopes to reach an agreement with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday in Washington when he presents her with solutions. VW requested the meeting.
Mueller's trip comes as the German automaker and US regulators are at an apparent impasse over how to proceed with the expected recall of nearly 600,000 "clean diesel" vehicles sold with secret software designed to make their engines pass federal emissions standards while undergoing laboratory testing. The vehicles then switch off those measures in real-world driving conditions, spewing harmful nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times what is allowed under federal environmental standards.
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The cars include Jetta, Golf and other popular models dating to the 2009 model year. About 11 million cars have similar software worldwide.
McCarthy said last week that the agency has not reached any agreement with VW after three months of discussions and that she's anxious to bring VW into compliance with the Clean Air Act.
But Mueller continued to describe the discussions as productive. "It is my point of view, I tell you we are working together with the EPA and also with the CARB for three months, and from our point of view, we did huge progress. And now we will talk to McCarthy and we'll see how the reaction will be."
He will not talk about what solutions the company will propose, but analysts say they will almost certainly be expensive and involve major modifications to the exhaust systems or the addition of a chemical treatment system to turn nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen.
ALSO READ: Emission test scandal: Volkswagen to suspend production at Germany's Dresden plant in 2016
Mueller will not say if the company plans to buy back any of the cars. The US Justice Department, representing EPA, filed a civil lawsuit last week that could potentially expose VW to more than $20 billion (nearly Rs 1.33 lakh crore) in fines under the Clean Air Act.
VW could incur additional civil penalties based on facts determined at trial. A separate criminal investigation is underway, and numerous private class-action lawsuits filed by angry VW owners are pending.
The company also faces investigations by multiple state attorneys general, some of whom have complained that VW is not turning over documents that have been requested. Mueller said the source of the dispute is variations between German and US laws governing corporate documents.
"There is German law in terms of tighter protection, and that is not compatible to the American. And that has to be clarified," he said.
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