Volkswagen to give owners $500 amid scandal

But he added: “VW should take full responsibility for its deceit and harm to almost 500,000 customers by offering to buy back defective cars at their original prices”.

Volkswagen says it’s “working to make things right” on the heels of its global emissions test cheating scandal. In addition to these, 24-hour roadside assistance is also offered to these customers for a period of 3 years.

Please note that VW Touareg TDI models are not included in this program. Owners of the 2009-15 diesel Audi A3 will receive also receive the offer.

The EPA said September 18 that roughly 482,000 2.0-liter diesel VW and Audi vehicles contained illegal software created to mask smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions that were up to 40 times permissible levels.

VOLKSWAGEN has offered United States owners of VW-badged vehicles affected by the growing emissions scandal a $1400 “goodwill” package, but with strings attached.

“Customers who own one of the affected diesel vehicles in the U.S. and Canada will be receiving a voucher for [dealer] services worth $US500 plus a $US500 pre-paid credit card”, a VGA spokesman told motoring.com.au today. In Germany, workers make up half the seats on the supervisory board and have a strong voice in the company.

Slagle, who bought his vehicle in 2011, said he was surprised there was still no plans for how to fix the cars: “Even though they’re clearly culpable, somehow they’re in the driver’s seat”.

“The challenges are huge but the workforce is backing the company as long as we manage to come up with a balanced strategy for investments, savings measures and future projects”, Osterloh said.

“There are no stipulations”, she said. Affected owners have already been notified of the necessary steps.

Fitch ratings agency on Monday cut Volkswagen’s credit rating by two notches, saying that a widening pollution cheating scandal has exposed weak corporate governance at the German auto giant, AFP reports. The rest would be made emissions compliant through a relatively simple software update. Last week, U.S. regulators said that a few newer models may be involved and VW itself admitted an additional problem with 800,000 cars, including a few gasoline models.

After several days of rumors, Volkswagen finally launched the Goodwill Package on its site this morning.

Wellington lawyer Edward Cox, who is organising a group legal action against Volkswagen, said the U.S. offer “appeared consistent with what they describe as a goodwill offer” but is disappointed not to have received an indication that New Zealand owners stand to be compensated. Producers that are found to exceed the limits for their fleet face fines. Germany will now test all VW vehicle models to find out their ACTUAL emission levels. A vehicle makers’ emissions are measured as an average of its overall fleet.