Almost half of the cars that were recalled in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal that rocked the car industry in 2015 have yet to be updated, data gathered by the European Commission shows.

The scandal had first come to light in the US in October 2015 when it emerged that Volkswagen cars had been fitted with a software device that cheated emissions tests. The Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer had admitted later that about 11 million vehicles worldwide were affected.

According to the data gathered by the Commission ahead of a summit this month that will look into why the issue had not been resolved for all the affected cars, there had been a total of 774 vehicles in Malta impacted, of which just over half – 391 – had been fixed.

According to the Commission data, in Malta there were 436 Volkswagen cars recalled, as well as 271 Audi vehicles, 36 Seat and a further 31 Škoda.

Recall was not mandatory in Malta

As the recall was not mandatory in Malta, unlike in other member states such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, the local sellers had admitted at the time of the recall that a significant number of customers had not replied to an invite to have their vehicle seen to, even though the job took no longer than half an hour.

The Commission’s figures also showed that only 42 per cent of Volkswagen models affected had been repaired. The figures were slightly higher for both Audi and Seat vehicles, with 65 per cent and 67 per cent of these being repaired.

Of the four affected brands, Škoda had the highest update rate, with 74 per cent of impacted vehicles getting the necessary repairs.

The factory-fitted software behind the scandal would automatically activate itself during laboratory emission testing and then during regular driving it would automatically switch off, most likely to save fuel or else to improve the car’s torque and acceleration, the International Council on Clean Transportation had said.

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