Volkswagen to buy back EU cars with “implausible” CO2 figures – report

Volkswagen is reportedly preparing to buy back vehicles sold in the European Union with understated CO2 emissions figures.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen admitted that up to 800,000 vehicles were sold with “implausible” CO2 emission figures. These “irregularities” were discovered as the company carried out internal investigations related to the dieselgate affair.

EU market models that have been cited so far include the 162kW Volkswagen Golf GTI and 221kW Golf R, as well as diesel cars, and some petrol vehicles, from Audi, Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen.

Potentially affected vehicles are currently undergoing laboratory tests to determine their true CO2 output levels according to EU guidelines and with German government oversight.

The Financial Times understands that once that’s done, Volkswagen, through its dealers, will offer to buy back any vehicles found to have had their original CO2 output understated by over 10 percent.

A spokesman for the company told the financial daily, “When we have the [test] figures then there could be a chance for people to say, ‘I can hand back my car because you told me the wrong number’”.

Owners who elect to take up Volkswagen’s offer will reportedly have their cars bought back at current market value.

According the newspaper, the company expects that current testing will reduce the number of affected cars below 800,000. Additionally, Volkswagen hopes that many of those still caught up will fall underneath the 10 percent threshold.

So far, the company has set aside 2 billion euros ($3 billion) for this latest CO2 issue. Some of that money will be used by the company to compensate EU governments that collect annual road taxes based on average CO2 output or fuel consumption.

In a statement last week, Volkswagen stated that any outstanding road tax money would be “charged straight to the Volkswagen Group and not to the customers”.

Volkswagen has also budgeted 6.7 billion euros ($10.1 billion) pay for the legal, remediation and other costs related to the dieselgate scandal, which involves the company installing software, which can cheat its way past NOx emission tests, on around 11 million diesel cars.

Last week, Volkswagen America announced a “goodwill package” of at least US$1000 ($1410) for US owners of vehicles with this defeat software.