VW UK boss apologises for emissions scandal

Volkswagen has said it will recall around 8.5 million diesel-engine cars in the EU after Germany requested servicing of the vehicles following the emissions scandal.

The manufacturer said it would need to be determined outside the 28-nation EU which classes of engine EA 189 were affected.

The latest engine generation EA 288 is not affected, it added.

German transport chiefs have demanded that all Volkswagen cars sold with software that enabled them to evade diesel emissions testing be recalled.

The Federal Motor Transport Authority has rejected a Volkswagen proposal for a voluntary recall, according to the dpa news agency, with transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, to announce details of the recall.

VW CEO Matthias Mueller said a recall could start in January and be completed by the end of next year in Germany.

The company has said around 11 million cars worldwide, 2.8 million of them in Germany, have the software that duped US inspectors.

The UK boss of Volkswagen has promised to "do the right thing" and "fully resolve" issues following the diesel emissions scandal.

Paul Willis told MPs at the environmental audit committee that the company wants customers to know that they "do care" and "really want to put these things right".

"Volkswagen is deeply sorry... we have fallen short of standards that are expected of us," he said.

"We are continuing to work carefully and diligently to remedy the affected engines.

"Since last weekend we've started to send personal letters to each and every affected customer. It is paramount our customers know we do care and we really want to put these things right.

"I promise with my dedicated team we will fully resolve this issue, do the right thing and regain trust in our brand."

The head of Britain's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says he has has received assurances from the car industry that emissions test rigging goes no further than Volkswagen.

Mike Hawes told MPs at the Environmental Audit Select Committee hearing that the SMMT was not lying with the emissions figures it publishes.

UK customers affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal want compensation, a survey has found.

The German car-maker has not confirmed whether owners of cars fitted with the software used to cheat environmental tests in the US will be awarded a payout.

Earlier this week Volkswagen's UK boss Paul Willis said it was "premature" to discuss compensation.

Mr Willis is due before the Commons environmental audit committee this morning.

Around 1.2 million vehicles in the UK are affected by the scandal.

Volkswagen has disclosed to US regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially help their exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests.

The manufacturer told Associated Press that the "auxiliary emissions control device" at issue operates differently from the "defeat" device software included in the company's 2009 to 2015 models disclosed last month.

The newly revealed software makes a pollution control catalyst heat up faster, improving performance of the device that separates smog-causing nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said: "Volkswagen has disclosed, in the application process for the model year 2016 2.0 TDI models, an auxiliary emissions control device. This has the function of a warmup strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies.

"The agencies are currently evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting additional information."

The boss of VW in Britain has said they could not have reacted any faster in response to diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the car-markers.

More than 1,000 cars fitted with pollution test-cheating software were sold in the UK after it emerged that this country was also affected by the issue.

Speaking to a committee of MPs, UK managing director Paul Willis said he halted sales of affected cars within hours of establishing which make and models were affected and could not have acted any faster.

"I couldn't stop selling cars if I didn't know which cars were affected," he told MPs - saying he received those details on September 30, eight days after it emerged Europe was affected and two days after he told the Government sales would stop when they could.

"There were eight days between when we first knew it affected Europe until I stopped selling cars and the reason for that is the complexity of the number of cars involved.

"There are 60 different models, there are five different brands, there are three different engines and two different transmissions.

"I found the VIN numbers out precisely at 9am and at 1:30pm, once I had clarified it with the computer systems, I stopped selling the cars voluntarily."

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the committee that VW "have behaved in an appalling way" during the global scandal.

• VW emissions scandal: 1.2 million cars affected in UK

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the committee that VW "have behaved in an appalling way" during the diesel emissions scandal.

The devices being used to mask emissions had been outlawed as long ago as 1988, he said, adding:

The emissions scandal was sparked by US environmental regulators who found that VW had installed defeat device software which switched engines to a cleaner mode when they underwent official testing.

• 1.2 million cars affected by the VW diesel emissions scandal in UK

Over a million cars in the UK are said to be affected by the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal.

At a hearing in Westminster, the transport committee heard from the UK boss of VW that almost 1.2 million cars are affected in Britain and the recall will begin in the new year.

During the grilling, UK managing director Paul Willis - who started proceedings with an apology - conceded that there may be "some risk" that a target to do all the work needed by the end of 2016 would be missed.

Some 400,000 would need changes to their fuel injection systems as well as having the software removed, he said - though he was unable to give any technical explanation to the frustration of MPs.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said VW had told his department that 583,000 Volkswagen cars will be affected by the recall in the UK, along with 393,000 Audis, 132,000 Skodas and 77,000 Seats - making Britain the second worst affected country in Europe after Germany.

VW car owners in the UK who are concerned that their vehicle may be affected can check online here.

Diesel Volkswagen vehicles equipped with software rigged to deceive emissions tests were first sold in Britain in 2008, the UK boss of the car manufacturer has said.

Speaking to the transport committee, Paul Willis said:

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