Germany Apology
It seems that a recall of the vehicles subject to the Volkswagen emissions scandal will not start until the end of this year.
Matthias Muller, the new CEO of Volkswagen, had a press interview on Oct. 6 and said that the process is likely to start in Jan. next year and wrap up before the end of next year. He added that the number of those diesel vehicles equipped with the manipulated software in question is 9.5 million or so around the world, instead of 11 million as reported immediately after the outbreak of the scandal.
Volkswagen is planning to suggest technical measures for dealing with the problem to the transportation authority of Germany this week, and place orders for parts once the measures are accepted. As of now, it is said that the majority of the vehicles in question can be fixed by software updates, but others require part replacements.
In the meantime, Volkswagen Korea announced on Oct. 7 that it will send a written apology to about 92,000 Korean customers who own vehicles suspected of emissions manipulation. Such an apology by the Korean branch of a foreign automaker is without precedent in the Korean automobile industry.