Affected VW cars to be fixed by 2016 end: chief executive

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FRANKFURT: New Chief Executive Volkswagen Matthias Mueller has said only a few employees had been involved in the emissions scandal and all the affected cars would be fixed by the end of 2016.

Europe’s biggest carmaker has said emissions test-cheating software is present in 11 million diesel vehicles.

The firm would also look into its various brands and models, singling out Bugatti, its supercar marque.

Earlier, Mr Mueller told employees at VW’s Wolfsburg home plant in Germany the firm is facing changes that ‘will not be painless’. All investments that were not deemed absolutely necessary would be abandoned or delayed, he said.

‘Technical solutions are within view and the firm would do everything it could to keep jobs secure,’ he said while giving interview to a German newspaper.

Future investment in plant, technology and vehicles would be put ‘under scrutiny’.

‘We will do everything to ensure that Volkswagen will stand for good and secure jobs in the future,’ he added.

The emissions scandal engulfed the German car giant after it admitted cheating emissions tests in the US.

In the UK, 1.2 million vehicles could be affected. Elsewhere in Europe, France and Italy have opened investigations into the rigging of the tests.