Volkswagen Unveils Diesel Engine Emission Fixes for Europe

The Volkswagen Group has announced that it has finalised technical fixes for its 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre EA 189 four-cylinder TDI diesel engines in Europe and that these remedial measures have been approved by Germany's regulatory authorities. VW says the first recalls in Europe are set to begin in January, 2016.

Volkswagen cars equipped with the 1.6-litre TDI engine will be outfitted with a new mesh "flow transformer".  Volkswagen says it "calms the swirled air flow in front of the air mass sensor and will, thus, decisively improve the measuring accuracy of the air mass sensor." The company will also update the engine's software. The entire process should take less than an hour to complete.

Models which employ the 2.0-litre TDI engines will only require a minor software update. As a result, the process is only expected to take about 30 minutes.

Read More: Diesel Engine Fixes 'Manageable', Says Volkswagen CEO

Volkswagen insists the updates were designed to ensure the engines meet emission requirements without any adverse effects on performance or fuel consumption. However, the company cautioned that all variants have not been tested yet.

The company also intends to present the "final technical solution" for vehicles equipped with 1.2-litre diesel engines soon. Like the 2.0-litre TDI engine, the fix for the 1.2-litre engine is only expected to comprise of a software update.

Read More: Cheating Software Also Affects VW Group's 3.0-Litre TDI Engine, Claims EPA

The Volkswagen emission cheating scandal affects an estimated 11 million cars globally, including about 8.5 million cars in Europe and 500,000 in the US. While the recall will fix millions of cars in Europe, Volkswagen diesel owners in the US will have to wait longer for a remedy.

The German carmaker hasn't released any statement about its plans for India yet, where an estimated 100,000 cars might be affected by the scandal.

Read More: Volkswagen May Recall 100,000 Cars In India

VW has set aside 6.7 billion euros to help cover the costs of the diesel recalls and another 2 billion euros for compensation payments related to its manipulations of carbon dioxide emission levels. However, analysts say the costs of fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits could top 40 billion euros ($42 billion).

Here's a short video that the company released on Wednesday that explains the technical fixes approved by German authorities: