Volkswagen has pledged to redouble its efforts to meet its commitments towards European consumers deceived in the scandal of cheat devices in diesel engines, national consumer protection authorities announced on Tuesday 19 December. This is the response to the letter they sent the car maker on 7 September (see EUROPE 11880 and 11857).
To date, only 73% of vehicles affected across the EU have been repaired. Volkswagen has committed itself to continuing and speeding up its efforts to repair the remaining cars free of charge in 2018, and beyond if necessary and to sustaining their information effort to encourage consumers to take up the technical measure (see EUROPE 11857). Cars repaired after 2017 will still be eligible for the trust building measure but no compensation is planned.
In a press release, Commissioner Vera Jourovà has announced the “New Deal for Consumers”, expected from the Commission in April of next year, to give consumers new ways “to defend their interests more effectively, especially when they face large companies” (see EUROPE 11917).
The national authorities also insisted that Volkswagen work harder to handle all complaints pre- and post-repair, provide detailed information about the repair to all affected consumers and make the trust building measure legally binding. The dialogue with the German car manufacturer will continue at the start of 2018. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)