A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] on Thursday extended the deadline [court transcript, PDF] for German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) [official website] to fix its diesel-powered cars, which have been held to be in violation of US emissions standards. According to the transcripts, Judge Charles Breyer was persuaded that VW engineers are working “round the clock” to develop a fix for nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the US, and that the present delays are primarily the result of engineering technicalities and other important issues that need to be resolved. VW’s sales have taken a major hit in the US since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] revealed in September that VW had been cheating on diesel-emissions tests [WSJ report], contradicting the company’s claims that its diesel vehicles were “green.” More than 500 civil lawsuits from around the country have been consolidated in the San Francisco court against VW, and VW’s brand image has suffered forcing its CEO and top US manager out of the company since the scandal surfaced. Breyer has given VW until April 21 to come up with a “concrete proposal for getting the polluting vehicles off the road” and instructed that the proposal must be specific and detailed. Breyer also instructed VW to provide him with weekly status updates, and release pertinent non-confidential information to the public for their benefit.

VW is facing legal difficulty around the world over the emissions scandal. A law firm in Germany filed a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] earlier this month against VW on behalf of investors alleging a breach of duty to the capital market. The €3.255 (US $3.61 billion) lawsuit was brought in a Germany’s multi-regional court in Brunswick. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed suit [JURIST report] against VW in early January for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The DOJ is also seeking billions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit. Last year the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation [JURIST report] of former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, following accusations that the company cheated on government emissions tests by manipulating exhaust valves. The investigation followed several criminal complaints, including one filed by VW, and came less than a week after Winterkorn stepped down as CEO of the company. In his statement he accepted “responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines” and said that he was “clearing the way for this fresh start with [his] resignation.” Breyer is currently overseeing hundreds of lawsuits, and 47 state attorneys general are also investigating.