VW says no plans to buy back cars in Germany

Embattled German auto giant Volkswagen on Friday rejected calls by consumer groups to buy back cars in Germany that were affected by the massive pollution-cheating scandal, as it reportedly plans to do in the United States.

VW said there was "no basis" for such repurchases in Germany, as the modalities to re-fit the affected vehicles had already been agreed.

According to a report in the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung earlier this week, VW expects to have to buy back around 115,000 diesel vehicles in the US that have been equipped with software to skew the affects of emission tests.

The head of the German consumer associations' federation, Klaus Mueller, said that a buy-back option would offer a "pragmatic and quick solution" for car owners in Germany, as well.

In Europe, VW plans to start recalling this month some 8.5 million affected vehicles in the region for a re-fit or adjustment.

But the clean air regulations in the United States are much stricter and such a solution is not acceptable there.

According to the Sueddeutsche, VW expects to have to buy back around one fifth of the affected cars in the US, which totalled around 580,000.

It 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.

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

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.