Volkswagen admitted last year that almost half million-production units had diesel engines that were programmed to cheat emission standards. This scandal left avid Volkswagen enthusiasts and follower in utter disbelief and disappointment.
According to CBSNews, a federal judge in San Francisco has approved nearly $15 billion dollars in court settlement for most claims in its cheating scandal. German Prosecutors have also widened their investigation on how the company handled the emission scandal; the investigation now includes board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch.
Included in the cars to be recalled are at least 21,000 Volkswagen Touareg TDI and Audi Q7 3.0 TDI units that were sold in the U.S market. VW suggested another 85,000 units sold in the U.S. just needs a software update, which, however, was denied by the EPA.
Early last week, Audi allocated an additional $687 million dollars to address the issue, and might be a move for the company to buyback and compensate the current car owners. Reports from Autoweek says that VW have offered current VW owners around $5,00 dollars up to $10,000 dollars in cash on top of the pre-crisis value of their cars.
Most Q7 owners typically paid over $60,000 dollars for their cars and are expecting Volkswagen to cost more in buy backs. VW also still have un-sold units which may cause problems up to 2017 until they fully develop a fix for their vehicles.
Volkswagen, one of the oldest car manufacturers, founded in January 1937, may lose a lot and may struggle to come back up as new car models are becoming more reliable each year and the competition is growing fast.
The scandal can cause negative future sales figures for the German carmaker and may lose more than just billions of dollars, but may also permanently lose the trust of Volkswagen enthusiasts from all over the world. VW needs to make a move, one that is smart and quick in order for them not to lose the car scene.
