VW Chief: Emissions Software Fix Coming In October

Volkswagen continues to grab international news headlines due to the ongoing diesel emissions crisis, however a fix for VW vehicles may be on the way next month.

The new CEO of Volkswagen, Matthias Mueller has indicated that the automaker will refit vehicles which were built with potentially illegal emissions software. This report comes from Reuters, citing inside information from a VW employee. It’s not clear what refitting means in terms of fixing vehicle software issues, however, giving some sort of indication that the problem is being fixed is the type of action needed for such a far-reaching crisis. Reuters reported that the cost for VW to refit vehicles with potentially illegal emissions software could be around $6.5 billion. For VW, that’s another huge hit. The company has already lost tens of millions in market value since word of the crisis broke and the EPA could still fine them $18 billion dollars. The VW scandal is also taking a told on the 650 VW dealers in the USA.

In a piece by the New York Times, VW dealers are profiled as is their struggle with the recent emissions issues with some of their diesel vehicles. Certainly those VW dealers are watching closely as Mueller speaks about an impending fix for the 482,000 cars in the United States. Alan Brown, chairman of the VW National Dealer Advisory Council and owner of two VW stores told the NYT that the VW crisis is the their latest struggle. Speaking to the NYT Brown explained, “we have been suffering from an outdated product cycle, overpriced product and a deteriorating relationship between the dealer body and Volkswagen for a number of years. The recent events unfolding globally regarding the diesel scandal have hit the dealers in the U.S. extremely hard.”

While dealers are able to have private communication with automakers, in the case of the VW crisis, they are also in wait-and-see mode. Lance Willis, a GM of a Texas VW store told the NYT that he’s simply waiting to learn how VW will handle this situation. Willis told the NYT, “We are sitting here doing the best we can, and we’re waiting patiently along with the rest of our customers to see what Volkswagen decides to do.”

If VW announces a fix for their vehicles in October, how long do you think that the rollout of a vehicle software fix will take them? How could this crisis impact the automaker-dealer relationship for VW dealers in the U.S? Finally, what impact have you felt at your store from the VW emissions crisis?