Johannesburg - Volkswagen South Africa has launched an investigation to assess the impact of the emissions scandal on its customers amid an announcement that 11 million cars will be recalled globally.
VW admitted cheating in diesel emissions tests and the company’s German head office has estimated that 11 million vehicles with type EA 189 engines were affected globally. However it is not yet known whether vehicles in South Africa will be recalled.
Speaking to The Star on Thursday morning, Volkswagen SA’s Matt Gennrich said it would first conduct intensive investigations to be sure of its facts.
“Various cars were fitted with that engine and some of them were sold in South Africa. However, we don’t know if they were affected.”
Gennrich was quick to point out that this was not a safety issue and had no impact on the vehicles.
New chief executive Matthias Mueller said the German carmaker would tell customers in the coming days that they would need to have diesel vehicles with illegal software refitted.
Manipulating emissions results allowed VW to keep down engine costs in a “clean diesel” strategy.
The Star