Volkswagen said it has understated fuel usage and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of far fewer cars than originally expected.

"Only a small number of the model variants of new cars will have the catalogue (CO2) figure slightly adjusted," VW said on Tuesday, adding the number of affected cars was equivalent to about 36,000 vehicles.

VW said last month it had falsified fuel usage and CO2 emissions in about 800,000 cars sold mainly in Europe, and was expecting costs of at least 2 billion euros ($2.19 billion) including compensation payments to customers.

"The negative impact on earnings... has not been confirmed," VW said. "Whether we will have a minor economic impact, depends on the results of the remeasurement exercise." – Reuters