Emissions scandal: VW to recall 8.5m cars across Europe

Frankfurt, Germany - German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) said Thursday it will recall a total of 8.5 million diesel vehicles Europe-wide that are equipped with sophisticated software enabling their engines to cheat pollution tests.

Responding to an order from the German KBA federal transport authority earlier to recall 2.4 million vehicles in Germany alone, VW announced in a statement that around 8.5 million vehicles would be recalled in all 28 of the European Union's member states, starting from January 2016.

Read: Emissions scandal: Germany rallies behind Volkswagen

VW admitted in September that it had installed software in diesel vehicles to deceive US regulators about the true level of their toxic emissions. It has said up to 11 million vehicles were affected worldwide.

Earlier in October, the embattled auto giant said up to 30 VW managers were involved in the automaker's emissions scandal - far more than the group has claimed.