Brussels, Belgium - A top Volkswagen executive has defended its decision not to compensate European customers affected by its emissions scandal, arguing that providing repair service would be sufficient.
In 2015 the United States discovered a device in several Volkswagen diesel models that lowered emissions readings when a car was put through testing, meaning polluting cars were recorded as meeting environmental standards.
Volkswagen later admitted that it had installed illegal software in some 11 million cars worldwide, 8.5 million of them in Europe.
European politicians have raised concerns that Volkswagen owners on their continent will not be compensated, while those in the US will not only get cars retrofitted, but also receive cash payments for their troubles.
Volkswagen has agreed to pay as much as $14.7 billion dollars (R212.5 billion) for buybacks, damages and penalties under a settlement reached with the US, according to court filings.
Ulrich Eichhorn, who was appointed after the scandal to lead research and development at Volkswagen, argued on Wednesday during a hearing at the European Parliament that the US and European cases are different.
“We wanted, for all of our clients worldwide, to bring their vehicle in line with what they had bought and wanted,” Eichhorn noted.
He said this is possible for cars in Europe, through modifications that require a garage visit of 30-60 minutes on average and do not lead to any loss of performance or value.
But getting all affected US cars to comply with Washington's stricter emissions rules was not possible, he said.
Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller had warned in an interview earlier this month that enforcing US-style penalties in Germany alone would “overwhelm” the company financially.
DPA