VW is bringing the US an electric car

             For the last year, Volkswagen has been trying to recover from their diesel-emissions cheating scandal, and now they are planning for their future, electric cars. The company plans to introduce as many as 30 electric models spread across all their brands by 2025. And now it appears that some of those VW branded models will be built in North American, according to Volkswagen Group of America CEO Hinrich Woebcken. 

“VW is evaluating its plants in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Puebla, Mexico, as production sites for an electric car that will launch in 2020”,

Woebcken said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Woebcken indicated that the decision was based on anticipated electric-car demand in the U.S. VW going forward with building an electric car in North America is going to go a long way in rebuilding their public image and re-establish its green credentials. The plant in Tennessee opened in 2011, as part of VWs major expansion push into the U.S.

VW currently builds at their Tennessee plant the mid-size sedan the Passat. They are planning on building their new three-row crossover at the beginning of next year. The bulk of VWs that are for the U.S. market are built in the Mexican plant. Currently the Jetta, Golf, and Beetle are the main production pieces there. The second generation Tiguan is also slated to be produced there as well. The redesigned Tiguan was unveiled last fall at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show and is scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. next year.

Currently the only all-electric car that VW has available in the U.S. is the e-Golf , which is imported from Germany. The new Tiguan may get a plug-in powertrain option somewhere down the road. Only certain VW dealers are given the option to sell the all-electric vehicles, those dealers are in states that are deemed friendly to electric cars. Those states are: California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia.

For the model earmarked for North American production in 2020, Volkswagen is likely to deploy the new MEB platform for compact electric cars that it announced last year. Beyond models based on this platform, VW also has three luxury models planned for European production. They include an Audi crossover likely to be called Q6 e-tron, a Porsche sport sedan based on the Mission E concept from the 2015 Frankfurt show, and an all-electric version of the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury sedan.

Contact us now to learn about our great VW inventory.

Volkswagen/Audi Diesel Emissions Settlement Program

     On September 18^th 2015, news broke about Volkswagen’s emissions tests being faked on many of VW and Audi’s TDI vehicles. It was found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate certain emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing. The programming caused the vehicles' carbon output to meet US standards during regulatory testing but emit more carbon in real-world driving. Volkswagen put this programming in about eleven million cars worldwide and in 500,000 in the United States, during model years 2009 through 2015.

     

     And finally settlements have been reached and the plan is in order to make it right with owners of VW’s here in the U.S. pending judges approval.

If the proposed Settlements are approved by the Judge, then Volkswagen has agreed to:

·        Buy back, terminate leases or provide approved emissions modifications for nearly 475,000 2.0-liter TDI diesel cars in the United States;

·        Provide cash payments to owners/lessees;

·        Pay for environmental remediation; and

·        Promote zero emissions vehicle technology

     So you can choose to sell or terminate your lease back to car back to Volkswagen plus cash or VW will make the modifications to your car to improve emissions plus cash. So needless to say, VW is giving you cash for their deceitfulness.

The following 2.0-liter TDI engine vehicles are included and may be eligible.

·        VW Beetle  2013-2015

·        VW Golf      2010-2015

·        VW Jetta     2009-2015

·        VW Passat  2012-2015

·        Audi A3       2010-2013, 2015

What are the next steps?

    If the Judge grants preliminary approval, notice will be mailed to owners and lessees announcing the specific terms of the Settlements.  At that time, owners/lessees will learn about their rights to exclude themselves, object, or comment on the Settlements as well as the options available to buyback or modify their car, or terminate their lease.

    Volkswagen is working on an emission modification for each of the cars listed  above. EPA will need to approve any emissions modification before this option becomes available.

If I am a former owner or lessee, am I eligible to participate in the proposed Settlements?

    If you owned an eligible vehicle on or before September 18, 2015 and sold it before June 28, 2016, you may be eligible to participate. Likewise, if you were leasing an eligible vehicle as of September 18, 2015, you may be eligible to participate.

For more information please visit our website or contact us for questions.