VW says 650,000 cars affected by emissions scandal in Italy

Volkswagen's Italian unit said today that nearly 650,000 vehicles in the country were equipped with software designed to mask emissions from diesel engines.

The company said it would begin to inform customers about when and how they could have their cars upgraded to ensure accurate data on the level of pollution generated by them.

The breakdown of the 648,458 vehicles which will require revision by the group's different brands was as follows: 361,432 Volkswagen, 197,421 Audi, 35,348 Seat, 38,966 Skoda and 15,291 Volkswagen commercial vehicles (vans and minibuses).

The company has admitted fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with the fraudulent software.