Volkswagen
begins recalling diesels in Europe
From: Leon Kaye
| Go to jail! |
The
bad news is that 8.5 million of VW’s cars will most likely be subject
to a mandatory recall — and that’s just in Europe.
The fallout from the Volkswagen emissions
scandal continues to reverberate, four weeks after revelations about the
installation of “defeat device” software in diesel-powered cars
slammed the newswires.
Now, the world’s largest automaker is facing a global
public relations crisis. This includes its home base: 2.8 million of the
recalled vehicles were sold in Germany.
German authorities demanded a mandatory recall,
rejecting any suggestion that car owners take their vehicles in for inspection
at their own discretion.
Such a directive, instead of a voluntary recall, adds to the
company’s costs since Volkswagen is required to contact customers directly and
make arrangements for necessary repairs to all cars in question.
Notices will
start going out in January 2016, and the recall in Germany is expected to last
longer than six months.
Adding to the company’s financial pain is the
possibility that more cars than originally believed will require more than a
software reconfiguration.
Some diesel cars with 1.6-liter engines, for example,
will require actual hardware modifications in the engine.
By the time
Volkswagen completes the entire global recall, the total price-tag could
soar as high as $40 billion (or 35 million euros).
