The government also rejected a Volkswagen’s proposal for a voluntary recall programme, after the company admitted that 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide had software installed in them intended to manipulate the results of emissions testing.
This was disclosed by the German Transport Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, who said that the recall would begin in 2016 and would be supervised by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (K.B.A).
He said; “The K.B.A. believes that the software used in the diesel engines constitutes an illegal defeat device.
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“The authority has demanded that Volkswagen remove the software and take all steps necessary to ensure that the emissions regulations are met.
“We have the impression that Volkswagen is technically capable of carrying out the technically necessary measures.”
However, he also warned that the hardware changes required to fix some of the cars may not be ready until September 2016.
Volkswagen, in a statement, early on Thursday, acknowledged the response from K.B.A, but demanded they are given more time to review it before commenting on it.