In the midst of the much talked about Volkswagen’s TDI diesel EPA controversy, Volkswagen USA launched the 2016 Passat today for the North American market. While it was supposed to be a grand celebration for the German automaker in America, the journalists in attendance were expectedly eager to learn more about ‘Dieselgate’ than just the minor aesthetic changes to the automaker’s midsize family sedan, reports Road and Track.
So when Michael Horn, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, took the centre stage, he couldn’t simply talk about the highlight of the event, the 2016 Passat. Instead, he gave a brief explanation of the current situation happening in the company. While it offered zero detail as to why VW went down this road in the first place, at least they acknowledged the controversy that now surrounds the auto industry giant.
As mentioned in our earlier post, last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), issued a statement that the German group manipulated engine software in their TDI diesel cars, and therefore violated emissions standards. The CEO of VW Group parent company Dr. Martin Winterkorn then released an officially apology where the company ‘had broken the trust of their customers in America’.
So here’s what Michael Horn had to say during his speech presentation:
“So let’s be clear about this: our company was dishonest with the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, and with all of you,” Horn continued. “And in my German words, we’ve totally screwed up. We must fix those cars, and prevent this from ever happening again, and we have to make things right—with the government, the public, our customers, our employees, and also very importantly our dealers.
“This kind of behavior, I can tell you out of my heart (sic), it’s completely inconsistent with our core values. The three core values of our brand are value, innovation, and in this context very importantly, responsibility—for our employees, for our stakeholders, and for the environment. So it goes totally against what we believe is right. Along with our German headquarters we are committed to do what must be done, and to begin to restore your trust.
“Of course we didn’t invite you here just to talk about TDI, and of course we could have also canceled this,” Horn said. “But we said first of all we need to explain ourselves here and begin to straighten things out, and secondly we’re here because we want to see something pretty exciting now, the newly-redesigned 2016 Volkswagen Passat.”
After the 2016 Passat unveiling speech, Horn wrapped things up by again returning to the elephant in the room.
“I would like to put this really into perspective. The United States is very important for Volkswagen. We have more than 5 million customers on the road driving our cars, and more than 5 million customers visiting our showrooms every year… We must do this with honor. All these people, whether it’s our customers, dealer families, or employees and their families, depend on us to run a successful business here with high ethical standards. We must do this in order to carry out our responsibilities to all of our stakeholders.
“My commitment first and foremost is to make sure that our entire company does what it takes to resolve this big challenge, and to restore your trust. Our future depends on turning this into an opportunity—to learn, to improve—and we are ready to do so. And I am confident and I’m personally committed that this company will do what needs to be done to make things right.
“You can be sure that we will continue not only to correct this TDI issue, and to straighten things out, and to pay what we have to pay, and we will continue to work very hard to make our story in the US for the customers and dealers and employees successful.”
Source: Road and Track
