Brussels, 05/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European bureau of consumer bureaus (BEUC) is calling on the Volkswagen car company to take speedy action to restore damaged consumer confidence and repair the harm that it did by cheating over the polluting emissions of millions of its cars.
In a letter sent on 2 October to the head of the Volkswagen group, Matthias Müller, BEUC urges VW to immediately stop distributing and selling any vehicles equipped with a defeat device in Europe; - reveal which vehicles in particular had the defeat devices installed in them in Europe; - ensure that a full recall of the affected vehicles in Europe is communicated in a consistent and transparent way to the owners, providing full and detailed information on the nature, content, purpose of the technical analysis modifications to be made, and on the aftermath and effects on performance, safety and gas emission requirements; - ensure that the owners of recalled vehicles are not only exempted from any costs related to the operations or repair work that would be needed to meet standards set out in marketing material, the contract or required under law, but also adequately compensated in the event that the necessary technical intervention produces a negative impact on the performance of the cars (eg fuel consumption); in parallel ensure that a courtesy car is provided to owners while any alterations or repair work are carried out; - offer in any case timely financial compensation for any damages caused by or related to the defeat devices installed in vehicles, including the depreciation of the value of the affected vehicles; ensure that any alternations or repair work on affected cars will result in the emissions performance matching EU emissions limits based on real world performance or, where lower, the advertised emission levels for the relevant vehicle; - ensure the fulfilment of any other consumer claim based on consumer sales law, including cancellation and repayment of the purchase price or proportionate reduction of the purchase price and damages for any loss). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)