‘I don’t feel comfortable even driving the car’
Owners react to VW scandal
Jessica Lancaster thought she was helping the environment when she bought a Volkswagen TDI Jetta in 2009, one of the automaker’s “clean diesel” vehicles.
Now Lancaster, 26, can barely bring herself to take it on the road, knowing it’s spewing up to 40 times the legal pollution limits due to software the automaker designed to cheat U.S. clean-air tests.
“There are just so many toxins in the environment. For someone so big to be contributing in such a big way, it’s shocking,” said the holistic nutritionist from Toronto, noting, “I don’t feel comfortable even driving the car.”
The scandal has engulfed the world’s largest carmaker, leading to dozens of investigations, lawsuits and billions in lost stock market value.
Volkswagen AG’s chief executive officer Martin Winterkorn, Germany’s highest-paid executive, resigned Wednesday, saying although he had no personal involvement he takes responsibility for the “irregularities.”
More resignations and possible criminal prosecutions are coming, the company’s powerful executive committee also said in a statement.
Winterkorn, paid 16.6 million euros ($24.7 million Canadian) last year, also apologized to customers.
For Lancaster and other owners of approximately 107,000 VW vehicles sold in Canada, that’s not enough.
“I think it’s admirable, respectful that he’s stepping down on behalf of the company,” she said. But it doesn’t answer the more pressing question: what does Lancaster do with a car she no longer wants to drive and can’t sell?
In terms of crisis management, Volkswagen gets a “failing grade,” said Bill Walker, a crisis communications consultant with Midtown PR of Toronto.
Just getting the CEO to apologize and resign won’t restore customers’ trust in VW diesels, a key part of the automaker’s image, Walker said.
The company needs to appoint outside experts to investigate what went wrong and share that information with customers, Walker said.
At least two class action lawsuits have been launched on behalf of Canadian owners. American owners are also suing.
While Volkswagens have no demonstrated safety problems, many owners are angry about paying a premium for a vehicle they believed was less harmful to the environment, lawyer Tony Merchant says.
“I originally purchased it because it was an environmentally friendly car,” Lancaster said.
“I was so pro Volkswagen, I was even trying to convince my dad to get one.”
Like other VW owners, she’s hoping for some form of compensation.
VW has said it could take up to a year to find a solution for current owners.
Regulators in North America, Europe and South Korea are investigating, which includes criminal probes in the United States and Germany. Environment Canada has said it will take action if warranted.