Volkswagen set 21 April deadline for US emissions fix

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A US court has given Volkswagen until 21 April to come up with a plan to fix 600,000 cars that emit illegal levels of pollution.

The US District Court Judge said: "This issue of what is to be done with these cars must be done by that date."

If a plan is is not in place by the deadline the court will consider what action to take.

VW said it was committed to resolving the US investigation "as quickly as possible".

In September last year, US authorities revealed that VW had used computer software to massage emissions data during tests, sparking the biggest crisis in VW's history and leading to the departure of the head of the company.

The US Justice Department is suing VW for breaching environmental laws.

In emerged that more than 11 million vehicles worldwide have been fitted with the devices.

Volkswagen has set aside 鈧6.7bn (拢5.2bn) to cover the costs of the scandal, although earlier this month the company warned this might not be enough.