Volkswagen announced that the owners of 482,000 cars in the United States will receive the gift cards as the company’s initiative to rebuild customer trust.
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In a statement, Michael Horn, VW’s USA chief executive officer said: “We are working tirelessly to develop an approved remedy for affected vehicles”.
The program extends only to owners of affected 2.0-liter diesel vehicles. Under the headline We’re Working to Make Things Right, VW launched on Monday (9 November) a webpage where VW owners can enter their vehicle registration numbers and see if they qualify for the $1,000 credit. The goodwill package also gives customers access to 24-hour road assistance for three years.
Early in October, Kelley Blue Book said the average resale value of Volkswagens with two-liter diesel engines fell 13 percent since mid-September, when VW admitted it cheated on the tests.
The German industrial giant triggered global outrage after admitting that 11 million of its diesel cars, including 2.8 million in Germany, were fitted with so-called defeat devices that covertly turn off pollution controls when the auto is being used.
Net profit slumped to 1.19 billion euros (S$1.82 billion) from 2.5 billion a year ago said Porsche SE, which owns 52.2 per cent of VW’s common shares.
Volkswagen US said the agreement that customers need to sign to get the cash and barter offer would not stop them seeking extra compensation at a later date, and instead was tied to the terms of the credit card’s use.
Meanwhile, Germany’s transport ministry said yesterday that of the 2. Affected owners have already been notified of the necessary steps. The rest would be made emissions compliant through a relatively simple software update.
Volkswagen officials characterized the plan as a way to help out customers while it figures out ways to bring the cars into compliance with air pollution rules. Experts say that fix will likely require installing equipment in the cars that neutralizes nitrogen oxide emissions in exhaust fumes.
“Locally we haven’t announced a program as Volkswagen AG is putting together a package of measures for each market created to achieve high customer satisfaction”. Edward Markey (D., Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) in a statement.
“They’re a very nimble team, and they are fast to react to the changing climate”, Alan Brown, chairman of Volkswagen’s USA dealer network and the general manager of Hendrick Volkswagen in Lewisville, Texas, said of the VW corporate reaction.
The scandal expanded last week, when the EPA accused VW of cheating with different software on larger six-cylinder diesels in about 10,000 vehicles. Or was it intentionally created to understate Carbon dioxide emissions? Producers that are found to exceed the limits for their fleet face fines.
In the letter, which was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal, the European Union requests a response within ten days.
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A VW spokeswoman said the goodwill program does not include a waiver of legal claims stemming from the company’s emissions violations.
