Volkswagen expects to inform regulators and customers soon about the steps to implement the largest recall in the company's history.
New CEO Matthias Mueller — who replaced the resigned Martin Winterkorn, now under investigation by German authorities, last week — told managers at the company's headquarters Tuesday that a "comprehensive action plan" was established by a VW project team over the weekend.
The plan aims to recall and fix an estimated 11 million vehicles with software designed to manipulate emissions testing.
VW intends to submit the details of the plan to government regulators next month; if approved, the company would establish websites to guide drivers of affected vehicles. Analysts said that the recall could cost VW more than $6.5 billion, according to Reuters.
Company officials told The Wall Street Journal that the plan will require software changes that can be implemented relatively quickly. Some vehicles could also need hardware adjustments that could take "at most a few hours."
The changes will slightly increase emissions levels and decrease fuel efficiency, officials added, but both will still meet environmental guidelines.
“The aim is to regain lost confidence," Mueller said, according to the Journal. "This requires an uncompromising and consistent clarification."
The recall is expected to impact 5 million Volkswagen cars and 1.8 million VW commercial vehicles, along with 2.1 million Audi cars. Czech automaker Skoda and Spain-based Seat account for 1.2 million and 700,000 cars, respectively.
