Volkswagen says it may compensate diesel owners by paying them for the lost value of their vehicles.
The company’s U.S. CEO, Michael Horn, also says Volkswagen will consider buying back the cars.
Fixing the vehicles could take the company more than two years, and some experts say the expense could be more than the cars’ value.
Close to ninety percent of the cars will need mechanical repairs. Only the newest models can be fixed with software.
Horn says the fix may hinder the cars’ performance, knocking one or two miles per hour off the top speed.
Senators say U.S. Volkswagen buyers improperly got more than fifty million dollars in tax credits.
Sixty thousand diesel buyers received thirteen hundred dollars per vehicle under a federal tax credit for clean energy cars.
Horn says the decision to install defeat devices was made by a few software engineers and was not a corporate decision.
Four Volkswagen employees have now been suspended.
German prosecutors carried out search raids near Volkswagen’s German headquarters Thursday.
Prosecutors say they tried to secure documents and data that could identify those involved and explain how it all happened.
