To be eligible, consumers must be the registered owner or lessee of a 2-liter Volkswagen TDI vehicle (“Affected Vehicle”) as of November 8, 2015.
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Vermont-based lawyer Tris Coffin, of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC in Burlington, wrote a letter to a Boston attorney for the automaker regarding the “self-described good-will gesture” Volkswagen had made with the gift cards and the offer of three years of roadside assistance. “In the meantime, we are providing this Goodwill Package as a first step toward regaining our customers’ trust”.
Volkswagen, in an effort to appease owners of small diesel-powered cars involved in an emissions cheating scandal, is offering them $1,000 in gift cards and vouchers, the company said.
VW owners have been frustrated as the German carmaker still has not engineered a fix for the diesels. The package is only available to those that now own an affected vehicle.
Belgium has opened an enquiry into the Volkswagen emissions scandal, theBrussels prosecutor announced Tuesday.
Two Democratic USA senators who have been critical of Volkswagen called the payments “insultingly inadequate”. It did it by inserting software into the cars so that their emissions equipment would fully perform during testing, then switch off for real-world driving. “What matters to us primarily is that we can offer full transparency to our customers at this point”, he said.
“Managers are not included”, said company spokesman Eric Felber.
To get the gift cards and vouchers in the USA, owners will not be required to sign anything giving up their right to sue Volkswagen or forcing them into arbitration, spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan.
VW has said about 482,000 cars sold in the United States since 2009 with four-cylinder diesel engines had software installed that allowed the engines to pass government tests for smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions, but pollute at levels far above government limits in normal operation. A week ago, the EPA blamed VW for conning with distinctive programming on bigger six-chamber diesels in around 10,000 vehicles.
Volkswagen will notify owners starting Monday; Audi will launch its program Friday.
In a move to get to the bottom of the scandal more quickly, Volkswagen brand manager Herbert Diess told staff in a letter that the company won’t seek damages or fire employees for what they might reveal.
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While Volkswagen continues to make USA owners of diesel vehicles wait for repairs to the emission systems of the cars, the automaker will try to pacify drivers with free money and towing.
