The big questions the Government needs to answer on VW
At the Transport Select Committee today, Which? executive director Richard Lloyd will say it is outrageous that UK consumers are still being left in the dark on the VW scandal and will call on the Government to take immediate and urgent action.
Richard Lloyd will say:
- “VW customers feel conned. Our campaign supporters are angry. 94% of nearly 30,000 people who responded to our survey over this weekend told us car manufacturers are not being fair to UK consumers, with three quarters of those saying the Government must now take action against VW.”
- “It is completely unacceptable that 7 months after this was first reported, following further testing and investigations, VW’s customers still remain in the dark on what the fix will be, what the impact will be on their car, and therefore whether they are entitled to compensation. Without this information, no one knows if they can bring a legal claim against VW.”
- “Assuming it has the answers to our questions, the Government must stop sitting on any evidence that can help fully inform consumers.”
- “Separate to the legal debate about compensation claims, people simply cannot understand why VW have offered US consumers a goodwill payment whilst refusing to provide this for their UK customers affected by the very same issue. VW seem to have put UK consumers at the back of the queue.”
- “The US Government has acted quickly to hold VW to account. In the UK progress to date has been woefully slow. The Transport Secretary must now intervene and stand up for UK consumers.”
Richard Lloyd will call on the Secretary of State for Transport to answer the following questions to ensure UK consumers are no longer left in the dark:
1. Was the defeat device identified by the Government in the Skoda vehicle a prohibited defeat device and VW therefore broke the law?
2. What work has the Government done to verify the effectiveness of the fix to the VW defeat device and does it affect the performance, fuel economy or emissions of the vehicles?
3. Why won’t the Government publish the full results of all of their testing, for each vehicle, including the detailed methodology? And reveal whether there are any discrepancies between their results and the manufacturers including whether any vehicles tested breached the lawful emissions limits?
4. What does the Government intend to do about the vehicles that would not have received vehicle type certification with the emissions levels they have detected and will any cars have their certification revoked as a result?