Final Report on VW’s Diesel Cheating Probe Could Take 6 Months

Volkswagen AG says it may take six months for investigators to finalize their report into the rigging of 11 million of diesel vehicles to cheat nitrogen oxide emission tests.

The probe centers on as many as 40 employees and is combing through company documents dating back as far as 2005, Reuters reports.

Last week VW said the investigation discovered the company also had doctored carbon dioxide emission tests to improve the performance ratings of some 800,000 vehicles, most of them diesels sold in Europe.

VW brand sales head Juergen Sackmann acknowledges the desire for a speedy resolution to the probe. But he says the company is determined to “work thoroughly and not give out false premature results.”

Still, the company has shorted the deadline for a whistleblower program aimed at turning up details about the scandal sooner. The program offers job protection and amnesty to mid-level employees who can tell investigators who did what, and why, Sueddeutsche newspaper reports. The German newspaper says the program, which was to run through the end of December, now will expire on Nov. 30.

In the meantime, VW has said its more urgent priority is to determine how to fix the affected vehicles and implement repairs as soon as possible.