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Volkswagen emissions scandal timeline

Berlin, Germany - The fallout from Volkswagen's emissions-cheating software scandal has affected millions of vehicles worldwide and cost the company billions in revenue and costs related to ensuing investigations.

Earlier in January, Wheels24 reported that the US department of justice hasfiled a lawsuit against VW. The lawsuit could cost the automaker $20-billion.

On Wednesday, Wheels24 reported that a VW executive said proposed fixes for affected diesel engines could take several years.

Below is a chronology of emissions scandal to date:

September 3, 2015: VW admits to the manipulation of diesel car emissions tests during closed-doors talks with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

September 18: The EPA discloses that VW used a software programme that produced lower measurements in diesel emission tests.

September 22: VW issues a profit warning to shareholders and announces setting aside 6.5 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars) for future vehicle recalls and to cover the costs of the investigation.

September 23: VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn steps down, saying, "I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group."

September 25: VW's supervisory board appoints former Porsche chief Matthias Mueller as head of the group and makes several other personnel changes.

Read: How VW's 'defeat device' works

September 28: The public prosecutor in Braunschweig launches a formal investigation of former chief Winterkorn and allegations of fraud.

October 7: VW supervisory board holds a crisis session and appoints VW chief financial officer Hans Dieter Poetsch as head of the board. New chairman Mueller says the recall action can get under way in January 2016.

October 8: Police raid the VW headquarters at Wolfsburg, other VW offices and several employees' homes. VW's head of North American operations, Michael Horn, is called in for questioning by US lawmakers.

October 13: Citing the expected costs from the emissions scandal, VW announces that it will be scaling back its planned investments by 1 billion euros annually.

October 15: Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority, or KBA, orders the mandatory recall of all VW diesel cars - 8.5 million in Europe, 2.4 million in Germany - with the manipulated software. VW had been pushing for a voluntary recall programme.

October 17: VW's majority shareholder, Porsche SE, announces that Winterkorn quit his post as board chairman at Porsche.

October 21: VW stops sales in the European Union of new cars equipped with older engines containing the emissions cheating software.

October 22: The VW group investigates whether an earlier version of the affected engine model, the EA 189, also had the manipulated software. Studies showed that this was not the case, according to VW.

October 28: VW announces a third-quarter loss of 3.5-billion euros amid the impact of the emissions scandal.

November 2: The EPA accuses VW of installing the emissions-cheating software in 3-litre diesel engines. VW denies the allegation.

November 3: VW admits that as many as 800 000 additional cars are affected by irregularities in carbon dioxide emissions.

December 17: VW hires star US attorney Kenneth Feinberg to administer a fund for compensation claims.

January 4, 2016: The US Justice Department files an environmental lawsuit against Volkswagen over the cheating on emissions standards in diesel vehicles.

January 5, 2016: Shares in Volkswagen dropped after the US Justice Department announced it will sue the automaker for $20-billion.

January 6, 2016: A VW executive predicts fixes for diesel engines that cheat emissions tests however the automaker adds that the process could take several years.

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