A US judge has given until March 24 at the German Volkswagen group to present a restoration plan to standard diesel vehicles with engines rigged, according to a transcript obtained by AFP.
“by 24 March (…) i want a definite answer of Volkswagen and EPA (the US Agency for environmental protection, Editor’s note) on the knowledge s’ they managed to develop a plan to repair these cars, “said judge Charles Breyer before which was filed earlier this week a collective complaint to the German manufacturer.
About 200 complainants from 50 states have joined this “class action” and claim damages “significant” for Volkswagen to have equipped some of its distorting software cars the result of anti-pollution tests.
Recalling that this scandal was revealed in mid-September in the United States, Justice Breyer said that with this period of one month Volkswagen has benefited a total of six months to establish a restoration plan to the standards of its vehicles.
“I think that six months is sufficient to establish whether there is a technical process that can be used by Volkswagen and acceptable to the US government,” assured the magistrate when the hearing, according to the official transcript.
In mid-January, Volkswagen had submitted to the US authorities first restoration plan to the standards that had once been deemed insufficient.
During the hearing Thursday, lawyer Volkswagen Robert Giuffra told the judge that the group was determined to settle the matter “as quickly as possible.”
“the group is clearly determined to regain public confidence, particularly to its customers” the lawyer added.
the collective complaint filed in San Francisco is in addition to prosecution by US authorities against the German manufacturer and could earn him tens of billions of dollars in fines.
Volkswagen admitted having provided a total of 11 million of its fakers software cars worldwide.
jt / jld / sha
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02/26/2016 1:37:56 – Washington, February 26, 2016 (AFP) – AFP © 2016
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