VW takes 4,000 cars off UK market

Volkswagen is suspending the sale of 4,000 vehicles in the UK as a result of the diesel emissions scandal.

The German carmaker said the move will involve vehicles across the VW group including the VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands.

VW said it was a temporary measure and that it intended to return the vehicles for sale once a fix is identified for the cars.

Despite the scandal that began almost two weeks ago, VW customers could still buy vehicles that had the rogue software.

The cars taken off the market represent 3% of VW’s stock in the UK.

From last month all new diesel cars sold in Europe must be fitted with the latest Euro 6 engines, designed to significantly reduce the levels of pollutants emitted.

EU rules also allow manufacturers such as VW to continue to sell cars with the older, more polluting, Euro 5 engines to clear stock. These models will continue to be on the market well into next year.

But VW has confirmed that 11 million of its vehicles have Euro 5 engines with the ‘defeat device’.

On Wednesday VW confirmed that almost 1.2 million vehicles sold in the UK were affected by the scandal.