VW rejects US/European compensation equality
European VW drivers affected by the emissions scandal will not get the same settlement deal as American owners, the manufacturer has said.
US compensation is expected to cost the company about $15bn, but it has told the German media that a similar deal in Europe would be inappropriate and unaffordable.
Last week Europe’s industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska called on Volkswagen to offer similar compensation packages to European drivers, but VW boss Matthias Mueller told Welt am Sonntag that ‘We have a different situation (in Europe). In the US the (emission) limits are stricter, which makes the fix more complicated. And taking part in the buyback is voluntary, which is not the case in Germany, for example.’
He added, ‘You don’t have to be a mathematician to realize that compensation at arbitrarily high levels would overwhelm Volkswagen.’
