Germany's scandal-hit auto giant Volkswagen said Thursday it was examining if another type of diesel engine had been fitted with software designed to cheat emissions pollution tests.

The company said it was now checking if EA288 engines with Euro 5 emissions standards are also equipped with the device, a spokesman said. The EA288 engines replaced EA189 engines -- which are at the heart of the pollution cheating storm that has engulfed Volkswagen.

The company headquartered in Wolfsburg in north Germany last month admitted to fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with the rogue devices, plunging the world's biggest automaker by sales into an unprecedented crisis.

The software turns on pollution controls when the vehicle is undergoing tests, and switches them off on when the car is back on the road, allowing it to spew out harmful levels of dangerous gases.

Investigations over the cheating are under way in several countries, and the scandal has wiped off about half of the company's market capitalisation.

Volkswagen is preparing for a massive recall of affected vehicles, which it has to repair to meet environmental standards.

The VW spokesman Thursday revealed that around three million of these are 1.6 litre diesel engine vehicles, which would need significant repairs.

Others with 1.2 litre and 2.0 litre engines would only require a software update.

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Volkswagen