At an auto show in Los Angeles, the current VW CEO for North America, Hinrich Woebcken, presented two new cars that will hit the market in two years; both of which are electric. In the short and to-the-point interview, he was asked about the emissions scandal and whether the company had recovered, to which Woebcken said:
“we are absolutely, we are back. We are coming back. At the same time we are making sure there is zero arrogance. There is still a lot to do still to regain fully trust with our customers.”
You mean like compensating UK consumers, as an example? When are you guys planning to settle up over here? We’re waiting…
From a firm that has lied and concealed intentional cheating for the best part of a decade, scepticism is unquestionable. However, the interview does pique interest: just what are they doing to ensure they regain trust from their customers?
Woebcken seems to believe tbat the best way to move forward is to just keep making new cars. This might be a good business model for the company as millions of people will be looking for a new car. But what about their losses? What about their customers that will have to swallow huge losses if their vehicles massively depreciate in value as a result of the scandal?
The CEO for VW North America believes that the 9% increase in sales is testament to the recovery of the firm, but we say that this is just papering over the cracks. After the scandal was revealed, Volkswagen’s reputation took a huge hit, and they have gone from one PR disaster to another in recent weeks. If the extra tonnes of NOx in the atmosphere leading to more premature deaths – according to experts – wasn’t enough, they’ve also been experimenting with emissions on monkeys…
These acts are serious and callous.
We still have the issue over the so-called “fix” as well. A significant number of customers found that, after having the fix, the cars experienced problems almost exactly as VW promised it wouldn’t, including:
- Loss of power and torque
- Diminished fuel consumption efficiency
- EGR problems
- DPF problems
- Engine noises and stuttering
There has been a lot of uncertainty around the “fix” as Volkswagen say that these problems are not being caused by their ‘technical measures’.
The interviewer also asked about whether Volkswagen was late to the game in producing electric cars. Woebcken dismissed mentions of Tesla being way ahead, and said it was making a real dent in the electric market. “We believe electric mobility is the future”, he said.
Volkswagen seems keen to sweep everything under the rug and to keep moving, even if it means leaving their loyal customers behind in the fog of their dirty diesel emissions scandal. Their vision for the future seems to be providing new electric cars for everyone without a second thought for the victims of the scandal here in the UK who are being refused compensation.
If Volkswagen really want to regain trust from their customers, they need to compensate them. If they really care about changing their image and moving on from this scandal, they should show the world a real act of good faith and pay compensation to their victims, and pay the price for the damage done to human health and the environment.
It isn’t hard, VW. Sort it out and pay up!
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