European industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska has said VW should pay its German customers similar compensation to US buyers.
According to Reuters, she told Welt am Sonntag newspaper “Volkswagen should voluntarily pay European car owners compensation that is comparable with that which they will pay US consumers.”
The company is likely to pay almost US$10.3bn as a settlement towards the US regulators’ claims over the diesel emissions scandal. The settlement amount includes VW’s offer to buy back almost 500,000 cars fitted with the cheat software with compensation of about $5,000 to be paid to each affected owner.
Bienkowska said it wouldn’t be fair on VW’s part to differentiate between US and European customers because of differences in legislative systems.
She said: “Treating consumers in Europe differently than US consumers is no way to win back trust.”
VW officials said in Europe the company would repair the affected vehicles and remove the cheat software but would not pay any compensation to customers since they did not suffer any loss, Reuters added.
