German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced Thursday the country's automotive regulator has decided to order Volkswagen AG, the biggest carmaker in Europe, to initiate a mandatory recall of around 2.4 million autos in the beginning of next year. Volkswagen, the world's largest automaker by sales after he first six months, has acknowledged last month it had fitted diesel powered cars with illegal software designed to circumvent emission testing in the US and thus rig the actual level of polluting emissions spewed on the road.