Volkswagen AG revealed on Wednesday that starting in January the company intends to launch a recall for cars affected by its diesel emissions rigging, a process that will be ongoing throughout the year and completing the fix by the end of 2016.
A spokesman confirmed remarks made by Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Muller during an interview with newspaper Fruankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, saying that the recall would begin once German authorities have approved the company's plans to fix the cars.
"If all goes according to plan, we can start the recall in January," Muller originally said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Muller admitted that VW would have to pay fines for installing software that allowed affected vehicles to perform better during tests than on the roads, but stressed that "there were no deaths, and our cars were, and are safe," adding that not many employees appeared to have been involved in the scandal.
"According to what we know today, very few employees were involved, but naturally we will only know exactly in a few weeks, once the results of internal and external investigations are available," he said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In order to recover from the scandal which left Volkswagen's stocks and reputation in shambles, Muller noted the VW would have to become slimmer and more decentralized, adding that every model and brand would need to be examined for its contribution to the company, reported Reuters.
He concluded by saying rather than a "revolution," an "evolution" would be required to get VW back on track.
