Charles Breyer, a U.S. District Judge court, has given carmaker Volkswagen Group (VW Group) a month to come up with a fix for the issue plaguing the company's diesel cars in the U.S.
For the unfamiliar, the VW Group has been in the eye of a storm for cheating on emissions tests in the U.S. The company's diesel vehicles manufactured post-2009 were found to be furnished with illegal software, which enabled the cars' emission control systems to be circumvented. This, in turn, enabled the vehicles to emit more than 40 times the nitrogen oxide that is permitted by the EPA.
Regulators and VW have until April 21 to present to the court a plan that will bring nearly 600,000 of its diesel vehicles (VW, Porsche and Audi) in compliance with the established standards and regulations for emissions.
On Friday, March 25, the VW Group was slated to present a thorough explanation on how it intended to fix the diesel cars before Judge Breyer. However, the judge granted VW Group an extension of one more month.
The judge has granted the automaker exactly 28 days to provide a concrete blueprint of its intended course of action. The automaker will need to give a detailed time window for issuing the fix, as well as details on any intended payments to owners who are affected by the problem and its proposed course of action.
In the event VW Group is unable to share in detail how it is looking to rectify the problem and plans to get the polluting vehicles fixed or off the road, as well as make payments to consumers by April, then Breyer has said that a trial could be rescheduled for summer.
"If no concrete proposal is made by April 21st, then on that date, the Court will set a schedule for determining whether the claims for declaratory, injunctive, and equitable relief can be resolved this summer. In other words, as suggested by plaintiffs, the Court would seriously consider whether to hold a bench trial this summer on such relief so that the polluting cars can be addressed forthwith," noted Breyer per the court documents.
The status conference scheduled for April 21 will determine if VW Group has indeed been successful in framing a concrete and thorough proposal. The resolution VW Group will offer on April 21 will determine its future in the U.S. If the judge is dissatisfied with the course of action VW Group intends to take, then it could spell doom for the carmaker.
However, the company's spokesperson Mark Gillies is optimistic and revealed that the VW Group will look to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible.
"Volkswagen is committed to resolving the U.S. regulatory investigation into the diesel emissions matter as quickly as possible and to implementing a solution for affected vehicles, as we work to earn back the trust of our customers and dealers and the public. We continue to make progress and are cooperating fully with the efforts undertaken by Judge Breyer, working through Director Mueller, to bring about a prompt and fair resolution of the U.S. civil litigation," noted Gillies.
