A FAW-Volkswagen Magoton is pictured in Yichang city, Hubei province on April 30, 2015. [Zhou Jianping / For China Daily]

Volkswagen AG has been hit hard by its emissions scandal in September. US regulators discovered that the German carmaker had installed software on its diesel engines to allow its cars to evade pollution tests. The company admitted that it fitted 11 million diesel vehicles with the software.

In China, its biggest single market, almost 2,000 imported cars have the software installed on them, though Volkswagen last year announced it would recall these affected cars. Experts say the emissions scandal has dealt a major blow to Volkswagen's brand image in China, although it has vowed to continue its huge investment plans in China. Dong Yang, vice-president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said last year that it would take Volkswagen a decade to recover from the scandal.