German consumers want VW vouchers as compensation

WOLFSBURG, Germany: Germany’s consumer association wants auto giant Volkswagen to give compensation vouchers to German customers affected by its massive pollution cheating scandal, as the company has offered to do in North America.“The group must assume its responsibilities,” said Klaus Mueller, president of the Federation of Associations for the Protection of Consumers, in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper yesterday.

“A voucher is the minimum that the company can give to compensate affected consumers,”he added.

Mueller’s call came after a US website reported that VW is planning to offer pre-paid cards worth up to $1,250 (1,160 euros) to affected American customers as part of a“goodwill package”.

Part of the sum can be used only at VW dealers for the purchase of a new car or accessories, while the remainder can be spent elsewhere, according to the site“The truth about cars”.

VW confirmed that it was offering vouchers to customers in the United States and Canada, without giving details of the sums involved. A spokesman added that the company is developing “an individual package for each market” and that for Germany, consultations are ongoing with the authorities.

VW is engulfed in a huge pollution scandal that has so far centred on so-called defeat devices-sophisticated software fitted into diesel engines to skew the results of tests for nitrogen oxide emissions. The carmaker has admitted to fitting 11 million diesel engines worldwide with the rogue software, triggering both regulatory and criminal investigations in several countries, including Germany and the United States. —AFP