About 940,000 Volkswagen vehicles have been earmarked for recall in France. The recall, according to the German auto giant will begin in February 2016.

VW Group France President, Jacques Rivoal who gave the hint on Sunday, told French newspaper, Journal du Dimanche that each customer with one of the affected diesel engine vehicles will receive "three letters" to detail the process.

"One was sent in November, the next, in January, will specify technical measures, and the last one will invite clients to contact their car dealership," he said.

The company said in November that it had "decided to undertake after-sales action on EA189 diesel engines in order to carry out a software correction" on the affected vehicles.

VW was forced in September to admit it had installed emission-cheating software into 11 million diesel engine vehicles worldwide.

In addition to the VW marque, the group makes 11 other brands, including Porsche, Audi, Skoda, SEAT and Lamborghini.

Rivoal said that VW already established an online platform and phone number to help customers.

"600,000 clients have come forward, and 150,000 of them are identified as owners of an affected vehicle."

The VW executive said that the software update will take "a half hour to an hour depending on the model" and that clients would receive a courtesy car, a safety check and a car wash.

Rivoal said the group will take on extra staff to handle the recalls and that dealerships will be able to stay open past regular hours.

"I want to reaffirm, the safety and quality of the vehicles are not in question," Rivoal said.

Volkswagen said Friday that worldwide sales of all of its 12 different brands were down 2.2 percent in November.

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