Volkswagen new chief apologises for emissions scandal at Tokyo auto show

Scandal-hit Volkswagen’s new chief executive has apologised at the Tokyo motor show and promised to win back customer trust. On the road, the vehicles were emitting pollutants at levels many times higher than advertised.

In coming months, Volkswagen’s financial figures are likely to be significantly worse once it starts the mandatory recall of 11 million cars and is hit with an array of expensive fines. Now, on the sidelines of the innovative Tokyo Motor Show, where the Japanese brands brought their latest advancements in terms of green and autonomous vehicles, Toyota’s president said diesel technology should not bear the shame of the VW scandal and deliveries of such models should not go down.

Promising a “new, even better” VW based on “innovation, responsibility and lasting value”, Diess said the company would focus on digging out and disclosing the full truth behind the scandal.

Then Mr Stein and Mr Diess unveiled a plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle, pulling back a cloth covering a auto on the stage.

VW sells about 60,000 vehicles in Japan a year, with a few 600,000 VW owners on the roads, the company says.

Although the vehicle does not have the diesel engine involved in the scandal, Mr Stein said he wanted to allay customer worries.

The Japanese market is dominated by powerful local manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda, but Volkswagen has done relatively well compared with U.S. rivals.

Volkswagen AG (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) reported a staggering loss due to a major fallout in wake of the diesel emission scandal, which it admitted to last month.

The scandal took place on September 18, which was near the end of the quarter.

When asked if VW could be No. 1 again, Diess, who was besieged by reporters after his presentation, said that wasn’t a priority and winning back trust was.

As a result of that massive exceptional charge, VW’s posted a pre-tax loss of €2.52bn, although the market did not seem too choked up by the news, as the shares as the shares advanced 1.6% to €123.70.