Volkswagen to pay up for CO2 tax difference in Europe

2015-volkswagen-matthias-muller

According to a Reuters report, Volkswagen has offered to pay for the additional vehicle taxes faced by its European customers, following the company’s dieselgate scandal which illegally falsified CO2 emissions claims globally.

In a letter to the European Union’s finance ministers, Volkswagen’s new CEO, Matthias Muller, has urged member states to allow the German car maker to foot the bill, rather than it be served to vehicle owners.

In Europe, vehicles are taxed based on their CO2 emissions and fuel type. In short, the lower a vehicle’s CO2 emissions are, the lower taxes one would have to pay for it. Naturally, Volkswagen vehicles found to emit more CO2 than originally claimed leave owners with higher taxes to pay.

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Volkswagen has admitted that up to 800,000 of its vehicles in Europe have been provided with falsified CO2 emissions claims. The discrepancy between the initially claimed CO2 figures and what they are in the real world today is where European Volkswagen owners would find themselves with additional taxes to pay.

But in a move seen as one to prevent further financial damages to itself via future lawsuits, Volkswagen has swooped in to call on administrators to allow itself to foot the impending bills faced by owners. To prevent further discrepancies, it has also issued a stop-sale on all affected diesel-powered vehicles in Europe.

Similar reports have come out of the US, with the New York Times reporting that Volkswagen could soon be offering cash cards to owners of its diesel vehicles there. But rather than foot any tax bills, Volkswagen USA is looking to “recover some of the goodwill it lost” over the dieselgate saga.

Pending an official announcement, it is believed that Volkswagen USA is preparing to hand out cash cards worth up to USD$750. Several reports suggest that there could be up to two cash cards offered per customer — one valued at USD$500 that can be spent anywhere, and another valued up to US$750, that can only be spent at Volkswagen dealerships.

With the dieselgate scandal initially limited to vehicles equipped with the EA189 EU5-compliant turbodiesel engines, Volkswagen’s fate took a turn for the worse recently when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a second notice of violation to the car maker for its 3.0 litre TDI V6 engine as well.

This is set to expand the car maker’s financial woes even further, with key models such as the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg, 2015 Porsche Cayenne, as well as the model year 2016 Audi A6 quattro, A7 quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5 all being affected.

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Chris Aaron

With an equal passion for fast cars and everyday workhorses, Chris Aaron maintains a passion for European makes, Formula 1, playing the electric guitar and spending endless hours on the PlayStation - first-person shooters and the Gran Turismo franchise are his favourites. He also finds it strange to have written this in the third person.

 

Comments

  • Henry on Nov 09, 2015 at 12:43 pm

    And I thought VW was making great stride in their vehicle emission but the great hoax got uncovered.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • alldisc on Nov 09, 2015 at 2:36 pm

    how about those cars which VW made previously allowed to be driven in London city centre because of its “low emission”
    but now cannot? will VW buy those cars back?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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