Volkswagen given November deadline to fix technical issues

SAN FRANCISCO — California has given carmaker Volkswagen  until November 20 to come up with a plan to fix the diesel cars affected by its rigging of emissions tests, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said on Friday.

Volkswagen has said up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide need to be refitted because they could carry software designed to manipulate emissions tests.

The CARB spokesman said the deadline represents 45 business days from an in-use compliance letter sent to Volkswagen dated Sept. 18.

The November deadline was first reported by a group of German regional daily newspapers, which cited Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, as saying the affected cars could be banned if a technical solution was not found by then.

The biggest business crisis in VW's 78-year history has wiped more than a third off its share price, forced out its long-time CEO, prompted investigations across the world and rocked both the car industry and German establishment.

The Californian authorities are also carrying out tests on diesel cars made by other manufacturers, the German report added.

"We will publish the results within the next few months," Nichols was quoted as saying.