Volkswagen Rolls Out Goodwill Package for Disgruntled Diesel Owners

While a few experts say the $500 gift card and $500 dealer credit is a good start towards repairing the company’s image, others are concerned that the gesture isn’t enough.

In September, Volkswagen admitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board that the automaker had employed a sophisticated device to cheat USA emissions standards in diesel cars with 2.0 liter engines, including the Audi A3, Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat. The diesels emit as much as 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide in normal driving; the software hides those emissions when it detects test conditions.

“50 days even in the US after the results of its investigation came out”, a Volkswagen Korea official said. Once the gift cards arrive, in approximately four weeks, they must be taken to a dealership to be activated.

It’s still unclear which cars from which automakers were shown to have high emissions.

Also included in the Goodwill Package is three years of 24-hour roadside assistance.

Belgium has opened an enquiry into the Volkswagen emissions scandal, theBrussels prosecutor announced Tuesday.

Volkswagen plans to recall and retrofit 11 million diesel-powered cars worldwide, and must come up with an EPA-approved plan to correct the problem.

However, Robert Hilliard, an attorney representing hundreds of owners of diesel cars covered by the EPA investigation, cautioned that consumers signing up for payments should be mindful of any fine print that would agree to arbitration instead of litigation.

Porsche SE has said its forecast requires VW earnings meeting current expectations and could change depending on further findings in the scandal. Individuals accepting the offer will not have to relinquish their right to participate in a class-action lawsuit against Volkswagen.

Volkswagen’s American arm has put in place a scheme to compensate owners of cars affected by the ongoing emissions scandal.

And over roughly one month since news of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating first broke, list prices for affected cars have fallen close to $1,000, Autolist says.

Official NEDC Carbon dioxide figures, cheated on by Volkswagen in an estimated 800,000 petrol- and diesel-engined Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen cars and SUVs, provide the basis for road taxation levels in most European countries.