.png "Menu")
Volkswagen to recall 8.5 million cars in Europe
Volkswagen to recall 8.5 million cars in Europe affected by emissions cheating software.
The beleaguered car manufacturer Volkswagen says it will be recalling 8.5 million cars across Europe.
The European-wide recall has been prompted by Germany's car industry regulator, which had ordered Volkswagen to recall any vehicles in that country that had been fitted with emissions cheating software.
Meanwhile, the head of Volkswagen has told his staff that the company can recover from the scandal, but that it might take up to three years to do so.
SARAH SEDGHI: The Volkswagen scandal came to light last month, and around 11 million cars around the world are known to have been fitted with the emissions cheating software.
Overnight, the German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million affected cars in Germany.
ALEXANDER DOBRINDT (voiceover): The Federal Motor Transport Authority is of the opinion that the software constitutes an unauthorised defeat device. Volkswagen has been ordered in this statement from the Federal Motor Transport Authority to remove the software from all vehicles and to take appropriate measures to ensure that the emissions rules are followed.
SARAH SEDGHI: Volkswagen says across Europe 8.5 million cars will be recalled.
It will begin repairing cars in January in a process it says will likely take until the end of 2016.
Professor of law Carl Tobias is from the University of Richmond, Virginia.
CARL TOBIAS: I think it's valuable in the sense that there was a lot of uncertainty about exactly what was going to happen and so I think this is a favourable development.
It wasn't at all clear that the regulatory agency would require this - in fact Volkswagen had proposed its own recall which might have been less rigorous and less stringent.
SARAH SEDGHI: In Australia, Volkswagen last week announced a voluntary recall for affected cars.
Peter Khoury is a spokesman for the NRMA.
PETER KHOURY: VW have announced that they are going to do the full recall, it's going to happen in 2016.
We haven't been given much information beyond that, so what it appears is that the Germans are now almost on par with where we are here.
SARAH SEDGHI: Apart from having to repair affected cars, Professor Tobias says there have also been legal implications for Volkswagen.
CARL TOBIAS: There are a number of class action lawsuits in brought in the United States already.
I'm not familiar with what's happening in other countries but the lawyers here will be trying to recover the economic losses incurred by consumers and the question of whether there was fraud.
And so we'll try to recover whatever value consumers might have lost by way of the cheat devices.
SARAH SEDGHI: The head of Volkswagen overnight told his company managers that within three years, Volkswagen can recover. Given the scale of this and the legal implications as you just mentioned, do you agree?
CARL TOBIAS: Well I think we don't know yet, what they need to do is stop the haemorrhaging, but every day brings a new story and expanded exposure to liability.
So I think it's going to be difficult but it's going to be very difficult to tell, there's just so many different storylines and so many moving parts that it's very hard to know at this stage exactly how this will play out.
There are huge economic implications but also reputational concerns and how to regain the trust of consumers, really worldwide and I think all of that has to weight pretty heavily on the minds of the VW management at this point.
SARAH SEDGHI: Peter Khoury says the company can win back trust in Australia depending on how it handles the situation going forward.
PETER KHOURY: They have to do everything right from this moment on and if VW can demonstrate have they have learnt from their mistakes, that they manage this process effectively, that they put their customers first, and that the customers have been put through this are adequately compensated for it, they may well find themselves back in the position which they have held for a number of years in this country, and that is one of the more popular brands.
KIM LANDERS: Peter Khoury from the NRMA ending Sarah Sedghi's report.
0 comments: