Volkswagen Diesel Scandal: Judge Wants Answer by March 24

CARS.COM — Reuters reports a federal judge in San Francisco gave the Volkswagen Group and the EPA until March 24 to agree on a fix for the faulty diesel emissions systems in nearly 600,000 U.S. cars from the 2009 to 2016 model years.

Related: VW Diesel Crisis: Timeline of Events

It’s been nearly six months since the automaker admitted to cheating on EPA regulations, and the automaker’s fix is still unclear. VW already proposed a fix for its 2.0-liter diesel engines, which account for the lion’s share of the vehicles involved in the automaker’s huge diesel scandal. But regulators rejected the fix last month.

Robert Giuffra, an attorney for VW, told the judge that “discussions are progressing” in a settlement between VW and the government, according to Reuters, but the Justice Department has asked VW not to share any specifics.

Earlier in the month, the Justice Department filed a formal lawsuit against the automaker for violating the Clean Air Act by installing equipment that reduces diesel emissions during EPA tests but does far less during real-world driving. The automaker has since suspended sales for both four- and six-cylinder diesel (TDI) models across its Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brands.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan told Cars.com she’s unable to comment on today’s hearing and that a transcript won’t be available until Monday.