Volkswagen dieselgate fix is in

VOLKSWAGEN Group says it is ready to speed up its diesel recall after German transport authorities approved the company’s proposed fix for a further million vehicles, taking the total to 3.7 million cars.

VW’s Australian arm is waiting to hear which vehicles will be affected here by the development, announced this week by VW CEO Matthias Mueller at the European auto giant’s annual shareholder meeting in Hannover, Germany.

“We expect the recall campaign to really pick up speed now,” Mr Mueller said.

“Tens of thousands of vehicle owners will be informed in the next weeks and asked to take their vehicles to the workshops.

“Our customers can rest assured that we will continue to do our utmost to make every effort to execute the recall campaign as quickly, professionally and satisfactorily as possible.”Mr Mueller said the move was all about regaining trust lost over the diesel issue.

“That does not mean, of course, that we have buried our ambition,” he said.

“Quite the opposite. We do not plan to make it easy for the competition.”The diesel recall to fix so-called emissions-cheating software now extends to the VW Golf, Passat, Tiguan and Caddy, Seat Exeo, Skoda Superb and Audi A3, A4 and Q5.

“What’s done cannot be undone,” Mr Mueller said. “But what does lie in our power is ensuring we act in a responsible manner.

“This is our commitment to you. What unites all of us with a role to play here at Volkswagen – whether it be the supervisory board, board of management, executives, employee representatives or workers – is the desire to do everything we can to win back trust.”Mr Mueller announced that VW’s emission tests will be evaluated by independent parties in future.

“Real-world random testing of vehicle emissions behaviour on the road will also be introduced,” he said. “I strongly believe that our industry requires more transparency, courage and openness in dealing with this issue. And this is why we firmly support political initiatives in this area.”Mr Mueller said 31 “measure sets” identified by an internal audit would be systematically implemented to preserve integrity.

Eleven million Volkswagen Group diesel vehicles have been impacted by the global scandal.

In Australia, Volkswagen began the recalls with the Argentinian-made Amarok in February.