VW cooperating with German investigation of vehicles

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's transport minister says Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has promised full cooperation with the government following the company's admission it rigged nearly a half million cars to defeat U.S. smog tests.

Minister Alexander Dobrindt called for new tests in Germany following the news to determine whether any similar manipulation had taken place in Europe.

He told Bild newspaper Tuesday that he had held "very constructive" talks with Winterkorn and that "VW pledged its absolute support for all of the additional tests of the vehicles."

Dobrindt said Volkswagen, the world's top-selling automaker, assured him that none of its new cars being produced have the software installed that allowed them to run in a cleaner mode during official emissions testing.

(© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed)