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Emissions scandal: VW to buy back 115 000 diesel cars?

Frankfurt, Germany - Embattled automaker Volkswagen expects to have to buy back around 115 000 diesel vehicles in the US that are affected by the company's huge pollution-cheating scandal, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday.

Quoting sources inside the company, the newspaper said that VW expected to have to buy back around one fifth of the affected cars in the US, which totalled around 580 000.

Read: Volkswagen emissions scandal timeline

Contacted by AFP, the automaker refused to comment on the information.

The newspaper said the buy-back could take the form of either a cash payment or the owners would be offered a brand new vehicle in exchange at a large discount.

Read: How VW's defeat device works

The US authorities would reach a decision on this in January, the report added.

VW is currently engulfed in a scandal of global proportions after it was forced to admit in September 2015 that it installed pollution-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

600 000 US cars affected

The number of vehicles involved in the US is estimated at around 600 000.

Earlier this week, the US government announced it is taking VW to court over the affair, dubbed "diesel-gate", which has hit the company's sales and could cost it countless billions of euros in fines and lawsuits.

In Europe, VW is scheduled to start recalling some 8.5-million affected vehicles in the region this month.

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