Volkswagen of America has announced that it is launching an independent claims program for the United States that covers owners of almost 600,000 diesel vehicles in the country which are involved in the ongoing emissions scandal.
Volkswagen will be tapping compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg, who also oversaw compensation funds related to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the General Motors faulty ignition switch accidents, to establish and head the claims program.
According to Volkswagen, Feinberg will be developing "an independent, fair and swift process for resolving these claims." Volkswagen of America's president and CEO Michael Horn added that the extensive experience of Feinberg in the handling of similarly complicated matters will help in guiding the embattled car manufacturing company as it looks to remedy its wrongdoings to its customers.
Volkswagen claims program deputy administrator Camille Biros said it is still too early to determine if buybacks, cash, or other forms of compensation would be offered to owners of the affected vehicles, as compensation for the mileage and the harmed performance of the vehicles due to emissions repairs.
Feinberg added that before the claims program could begin to move forward, what the car company would be fixing in its recall of affected vehicles will first have to be known. Until Feinberg receives the fixes to be done by Volkswagen, he would not be able to predict the costs of the claims program.
Feinberg commands respect within the legal community. However, certain lawyers that are representing plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against Volkswagen voiced concerns that the claims program could be undermining litigations that are already ongoing in California.
The car company has acknowledged that 482,000 units of 2.0-liter diesel cars with 2009 to 2015 models and 85,000 units of 3.0-liter diesel SUVs and bigger vehicles are emitting up to 40 times that of the legally allowed emissions into the environment.
Volkswagen's struggles amid the scandal extends beyond the United States, as it is also facing lawsuits, criminal probes and regulatory investigation in other parts of the world. Just this week, in Europe, Volkswagen was recently been given the approval to start its massive recall program for 8.5 million affected diesel vehicles. However, the anti-fraud office of the European Union has also launched an investigation into the car company. Also this week, a nonprofit organization in China filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen.
