Volkswagen scandal; carmaker will need over a year to fix all cars

Volkswagen's new boss has said that it will take more than a year to fix all its cars fitted with pollution cheating devices, as the German auto giant scrambled to put its biggest crisis behind it.

Matthias Mueller, who took over VW's reins at the height of the scandal, said four employees had been suspended, although he did not believe top management could have been aware of the deception.

The world's biggest carmaker by sales has launched investigations into who was behind the deception of global proportions, in which 11 million of its diesel cars were equipped with software that switches the engine to a low-emissions mode during tests.

It then turns off pollution controls when the vehicle is on the road, allowing it to spew out harmful levels of toxic gases.

The scandal around the so-called defeat devices has wiped more than 40% off Volkswagen's market capitalisation, but the direct and indirect costs are still incalculable as the company risks fines in several countries and possible damages from customers' lawsuits.

As Volkswagen faced a deadline Wednesday to submit to German authorities its plans and timetable to fix the vehicles, Mueller told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily in an interview that once the proposals are accepted, "we will order the parts" to fix the affected vehicles.

"If all goes as expected, we can start the repairs in January. By end 2016, all the cars should be in order," he said.

The former Porsche chief added that "four people, including three responsible directors on different levels of the development of Volkswagen engines," had been suspended over the deception, adding that "others were already on partial retirement".

German press have named Audi's development chief Ulrich Hackenberg among those suspended, although Volkswagen would not confirm the information.

Mueller said he did not believe that the management team of Martin Winterkorn, who was forced to quit as chief executive at the height of the scandal, could have been aware of the scam.

"Do you really think that a boss would have the time to be concerned about the details of engine software?" he said.

The development of an engine is "a complex process that involves interaction between programmers, engine and gear box developers and those who deal with measurements for official tests," he said, adding that these are tasks in which "a director is not directly involved".
Volkswagen has said that the 6.5 billion euros it has set aside in the third quarter was only the estimated sum to cover repairs for affected vehicles.