Merkel says VW must act in transparent manner

[October 31, 2015]  BERLIN (Reuters) - The "Made in Germany" brand has not been damaged by the Volkswagen scandal, but the carmaker needs to deal with the matter in a transparent manner, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in her weekly podcast.

Almost six weeks after it admitted using illegal software to falsify U.S. diesel emissions tests, VW is under pressure to identify those responsible, fix up to 11 million affected vehicles and convince regulators, investors and customers it can be trusted again.

"A lot will depend on how Volkswagen deals with the issue," Merkel said, adding that VW could recover if it acts transparently and changes its organizational structures so that nothing similar can happen again.

"I believe VW is working on this with all of its power," she said.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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