Volkswagen chief executive apologises for emissions scandal at motor show
Scandal-hit Volkswagen’s new chief executive Herbert Diess has apologised at the Tokyo motor show and promised to win back customer trust.
The apology comes just before the news that Volkswagen has reported a third-quarter operating loss of €3.5bn.
Herbert Diess, a recent hire from BMW, said today that the priority is to fix the problem, uncover what happened and make sure the scandal never reoccurs.
The German carmaker is in the middle of a crisis after US authorities say it evaded emissions checks. It is facing recalls and possible fines.
The head of VW’s Japan division Sven Stein bowed for several seconds in a Japanese style of apology.
Mr Diess says he is apologising but made no bow. He said the launch of diesel vehicles in Japan, planned for the first quarter of next year, will be delayed until the second half.
``We are doing everything we can to bring back this trust in our brand,'' Mr Diess said.
He promised to “create a new and even better Volkswagen,” rallying behind the principles of “innovation, responsibility and lasting value”.
Then Mr Stein and Mr Diess unveiled a plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle, pulling back a cloth covering a car on the stage.
Mr Stein acknowledged after the presentation that sales in Japan had plummeted, by more than a third, although other factors besides the scandal, such as the lack of new models, compared to last year, may also be behind the plunge.
The Japanese market is dominated by powerful local manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda, but Volkswagen has done relatively well compared with US rivals.
Volkswagen sells about 60,000 vehicles in Japan a year, with some 600,000 VW owners on the roads, according to the company.
In global vehicle sales, a closely watched indicator for a carmaker’s resonance with customers worldwide, VW had come out No 1 in the first half of this year, beating Toyota.
But after the first three quarters, Toyota was again on top. The scandal surfaced in September.
