Volkswagen took a big step toward making amends for its emissions scandal.
The
German automaker said Tuesday it plans to recall up to 11 million
vehicles worldwide containing software that manipulated pollution tests
on diesel engines.
The
cars will be refitted to remove the software, though the company didn’t
provide details on how the fix will allow the cars to conform to
emissions standards or affect performance and mileage.
Volkswagen
will also build websites in the countries where it sold the affected
cars to provide drivers with information on the recalls, which could end
up costing the carmaker more than $6.5 billion.
About
482,000 are in the U.S. and 2.8 million are in Germany. They include 5
million Volkswagen brand cars, 2.1 million Audi models, 1.8 million VW
delivery vans, 1.2 million vehicles from the Skoda unit and 700,000 from
Spain’s Seat unit.
“This
scandal has put VW under an extremely negative light,” Max Zanan, CEO
of auto dealership consulting firm IDDS Group, told the Daily News.
“Not
only has the company betrayed their consumers trust, but they went on
further to deceive federal regulators. Try as they may, this recall
can’t and won’t turn things around for them,” Zanan said.
