Photo: Volkswagen
This is how it all begins. The federal transport authority in Germany, the KBA, has issued an order for Volkswagen to recall approximately 2.4 million vehicles in the country affected by the defeat device.
Alexander Dobrindt, the German Transport Minister, said that “The KBA will monitor the start of the recall action and its progress,” referring to the massive operation set to debut at the start of 2016.
In total, more than eight million vehicles affected in Europe will have to go through the same process, so what will happen next year in Germany is regarded as some sort of a pilot for the other countries.
Volkswagen had also previously announced it would begin recalls at the beginning of next year, but the mandatory nature of the KBA request will speed things up and will give the authorities more control. VW estimated it needed the whole year to fix all cars with the incriminated software, but a new time scheme hasn’t been released yet.
"It's an unusual measure to be ordering a mandatory recall," said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst with Evercore ISI, quoted by Automotive News Europe. ”It shows to me that the KBA is losing patience with VW’s slow response on what to do to fix the engines so far. Customers have been left unsettled."
The German State is probably trying to distance itself from the whole scandal, as it’s taking a heavy-handed approach by forcing VW to clear up the situation sooner rather than later.
However, Volkswagen’s hardship doesn’t look like it’s going to go away that soon, with recent reports showing that the VW of US CEO, Michael Horn, might have lied under oath in front of the Congress while a new type of defeat device that could be affecting 2016 diesel models is being investigated by EPA.
Volkswagen has until the end of November to tell the authorities how exactly it will fix the cars, while the recalls themselves will begin in January. The KBA will then test the vehicles to make sure the procedure was successful.
A very hot piece of news that just came in says that Volkswagen will recall a total of 8.5 million cars in the EU, with each customer to be called in individually.
In total, more than eight million vehicles affected in Europe will have to go through the same process, so what will happen next year in Germany is regarded as some sort of a pilot for the other countries.
Volkswagen had also previously announced it would begin recalls at the beginning of next year, but the mandatory nature of the KBA request will speed things up and will give the authorities more control. VW estimated it needed the whole year to fix all cars with the incriminated software, but a new time scheme hasn’t been released yet.
"It's an unusual measure to be ordering a mandatory recall," said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst with Evercore ISI, quoted by Automotive News Europe. ”It shows to me that the KBA is losing patience with VW’s slow response on what to do to fix the engines so far. Customers have been left unsettled."
The German State is probably trying to distance itself from the whole scandal, as it’s taking a heavy-handed approach by forcing VW to clear up the situation sooner rather than later.
However, Volkswagen’s hardship doesn’t look like it’s going to go away that soon, with recent reports showing that the VW of US CEO, Michael Horn, might have lied under oath in front of the Congress while a new type of defeat device that could be affecting 2016 diesel models is being investigated by EPA.
Volkswagen has until the end of November to tell the authorities how exactly it will fix the cars, while the recalls themselves will begin in January. The KBA will then test the vehicles to make sure the procedure was successful.
A very hot piece of news that just came in says that Volkswagen will recall a total of 8.5 million cars in the EU, with each customer to be called in individually.
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