Volkswagen will be offering cash to owners of diesel vehicles involved in the ongoing emissions scandal in a bid to rebuild the trust in the company that was lost, according to a report.
Volkswagen admitted in September that it had outfitted some of its diesel vehicles with defeat devices to lower the reported emissions of nitrogen oxides, as a means to pass emissions tests. The software could detect if emissions testing was being done to activate emission reducers, but once the software was off and the car was on the road, the vehicles would release up to 40 times the allowed amount of nitrogen oxide to the atmosphere, which is a harmful gas to a person's lungs.
Officials of the German automobile company said that Volkswagen will make an announcement on Nov. 9. The officials, however, are not confirming a report by automotive website The Truth About Cars that stated that diesel car owners will be receiving two cash cards. The first cash card, worth $500, has no restriction on where the cash card can be used by the customer. The second cash card, worth $500 to $750, can be used at Volkswagen dealers.
According to the source of the automobile news website, owners of the affected diesel cars will only have to visit a Volkswagen dealer and present proof of their ownership of the vehicle to be able to claim their cash cards.
Volkswagen is facing lawsuits from car owners that are seeking for compensation due to the massively reduced resale value of the vehicles under the Volkswagen and Audi brand that had the illegal software installed. It is not yet determined if the car owners that would be availing the cash cards would be giving up the rights to sue the car company.
Volkswagen has said that it will be making changes to the affected vehicles so that they would comply with the emissions limits. However, the fixes will likely be complicated and costly, and the company has not detailed how the changes will be implemented. A pair of deals said that Volkswagen was planning something, but no specifics were known.
Volkswagen recently disclosed that, in addition to the 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide affected by the scandal, there are about 800,000 more cars that should be included in the affected vehicles.
