VW Tells Subcommittee Most Diesels Need "Major Fix"

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Volkswagen of America says most of the 482,000 diesel cars that used software to evade emissions standards will need a "major fix," including a hardware upgrade that won’t start for at least another year.

VW U.S. CEO Michael Horn told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on October 8 that 325,000 of the 482,000 cars with 2-liter diesel engines in the U.S. — those with "Generation 1" engines, which includes all 2009-14 models, including Passats through model-year 2011 — will need both a hardware and software fix. VW may have to add a urea tank or other exhaust system upgrades to those cars.

Horn said such modifications could require five-to-ten hours of work at a dealership, and repairs are not expected to start until late 2016. He said the automaker is considering compensation to owners, including possibly buybacks.

Cars with Generation 2 engines — 90,000 2012-14 Passats — will get a fix that that may include hardware changes as well. Repairs are not expected to begin in the middle of 2016.

Finally, cars with Generation 3 engines — 67,000 2015-16 VWs — will require just a software fix. Repairs are expected to start in early 2016.

The EPA’s head of its Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Chris Grundler, told Congress the agency expects to receive a proposal fix for the newest vehicles soon. He said EPA still doesn’t know why VW cheated and who was responsible. He said VW would have to take steps to offset those excess emissions.

Some on the panel were critical that the EPA hadn’t caught the fraud earlier; West Virginia University discovered it with only about $100,000 in funding. Grundler didn’t blame a lack of resources, but said the agency is changing tests to be "unpredictable" to discover cheating by automakers. 

Back to NAFA Connection