Volkswagen believes it can fix some of the diesel vehicles caught up in the car maker’s cheating emissions scandal without compromising their performance, a lawyer for the company has said.
Robert Giuffra told a federal judge in San Francisco that Volkswagen believes the repair for vehicles with three-litre engines would not be complicated and would bring them up to their original standard.
“It’s just a process that will take time because of the need to do the durability testing to make sure that that fix is a long-lasting fix,” he said.
US District Judge Charles Breyer is overseeing lawsuits against Volkswagen in the wake of the scandal.
Lawyers announced this week that they reached a deal to compensate owners of about 475,000 Volkswagens with two-litre engines.
Volkswagen is working on a fix for those vehicles, but has not yet come up with one.
The deal, which still requires Judge Breyer’s approval, would give owners of the two-litre engine vehicles the option of a buyback.
The remaining 85,000 vehicles caught up in the scandal have three-litre engines.
Judge Breyer scheduled a hearing for August 25 to obtain another update on progress towards a settlement for those vehicles.
