Volkswagen to compensate US customers for diesel emissions scandal
Volkswagen is planning to compensate its nearly 6 lakh US customers affected by the emissions scandal, according to a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, a German newspaper.
The German carmaker has appointed Kenneth Feinberg, an American attorney, in charge of compensations in the US. Feinberg has previously been responsible for compensation funds for victims hit by September 11 attacks, the BD Deepwater Horizon oil spill and also GM's ignition switch crashes. Kenneth reported that owing to the differences between the brand and the authorities, he would not achieve his target of settling the claims within 60 to 90 days.
Volkswagen has postponed the announcement of its 2015 sales report and also pushed back the annual shareholder's meeting owing to the delay in appropriating the exact costs incurred due to the diesel emission scandal. Financial statements from the company, therefore, are still pending.
"It is a purely business transaction, less emotional. I see the from emails I get from vehicle owners, who say things like, 'Mr Feinberg, I know I haven't lost a relative, I just want to be treated fairly.' They are all quite reasonable," said Kenneth to the newspaper.
Earlier this year, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) had rejected Volkswagen's proposed plans to fix its 2.0-litre diesel engines that were equipped with a defeat device to lower emissions from the vehicle when under test. According to CARB, the proposal was found to be "incomplete, substantially deficient and falling short of the legal requirement".
Read more about the Volkswagen emissions scandal here
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