Volkswagen still hasn't reached an agreement over a proposal to fix nearly 600,000 faulty diesel vehicles in the United States, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) rejecting its proposal just last month.
While the EPA isn't letting the embattled automaker off the hook over its emissions scandal, it is asking the company to manufacture electric vehicles as part of its mending process in the country, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag is reporting, as confirmed by Reuters.
Although the paper didn't cite any specific sources, it claims the EPA has requested VW to manufacture electric vehicles at its Chattanooga, Tenn. plant in addition to helping to construct a network of charging stations.
If the alleged request pans out to be true, it shouldn't be received as sour news to VW, considering this past September — the same day that the news broke about its emissions scandal — the automaker vowed to introduce 20 electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2020.
While VW looks to a cleaner future, it still must get itself out of the trudge of this emissions crisis, getting the EPA and CARB to agree on a recall proposal and soon.
"Talks with the EPA are ongoing and we are not commenting on the contents and state of the negotiations," a VW spokesman told Reuters.
Earlier this month, VW announced that it was postponing both its annual earnings report and annual shareholders meeting — scheduled for March 10 and April 21, respectively — over the uncertainty of its emissions scandal.
Still, Reuters claims that the automaker's origins of its crisis will be presented by the Jones Day law firm in April.
At least VW can take some solace in knowing that its recall of 8.5 million compromised vehicles in Europe has been underway, as of earlier this month.
That being said, VW still has long ways to go in cleaning up its reputation, which has been badly bruised on a worldwide scale, even causing the automaker to lose shares in Europe to the competition just recently.
How long do you think it will take before VW is fully in the clear over its emissions scandal?
