Volkswagen in trouble again for selling pre-production vehicles to customers

Between 2006 and 2018, Volkswagen sold 6,700 pre-production vehicles to customers in Europe and US. Some reports, however, suggest that the actual figure could be as high as 17,000 vehicles! 

Ever since Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal came to light in 2015, it seems the German auto giant is finding it difficult to distance itself from controversies. In yet another startling revelation, Volkswagen has reportedly sold  6,700 to 17,000 units of pre-production vehicles to customers in Europe and the US. What this means is that all these vehicles do not conform to production standards and weren’t homologated for road usage!

Apparently, Volkswagen has admitted that the company sold 6,700 pre-production vehicles between 2006 and 2018 to unsuspecting customers, and now it’ll be recalling all of these vehicles. What could get Volkswagen in deep trouble – yet again – is the fact that all of these vehicles were made for development and testing purposes and, hence, they may or may not be road-worthy. Some cars may only be slightly different to their production counterparts, but others may deviate significantly. In which case they may have to be scrapped. 

According to Volkswagen, only 6,700 such vehicles have been sold to consumers in Europe and the US - around 4,000 of the test cars were sold in Germany, while the rest of the units were sent to other parts of Europe and North America. However, according to German weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, the figure of these pre-production vehicles plying on public roads could be as high as 17,000 units! 

Now, as per the law, all of these pre-production units or prototypes should have been scrapped. However, going by the reports, it seems that this is another slip up by the German auto powerhouse. And if that turns out be the case, Volkswagen should brace itself for another round of heavy penalties!

Source: Der Spiegel