Volkswagen UK boss Paul Willis has told a government Transport Committee that the firm has found no evidence of a "systemic issue" affecting the reliability of cars that have been given the dieselgate software update.
Willis was asked to address the chair of the governmental Transport Committee, Lilian Greenwood MP, on complaints lodged regarding the effects of the dieselgate software fix upon the firm's cars. Greenwood had requested an update on progress with fixing cars implicated in the emissions cheating scandal, prompting Willis to clarify Volkswagen's recent actions regarding the issue.
Willis maintained Volkswagen's stance that no compensation will be offered to European customers, stating that "the issue is materially different to in the US compared to the situation in Europe". He also brought attention to the fact that almost 820,000 vehicles have been fixed in the UK, with around 3500 being fixed per week.
Volkswagen has handled individually 16,904 complaints regarding cars' reliability following the fix; Willis highlighted this as being less than 2% of the total number of cars affected. He also claimed that "no systemic issue in respect of impaired performance has been identified".
Around 75% of these complaints, which relate to required repair work after the fix, have been approved for reimbursement. Those that weren't approved were invalid claims, the reason being if the fault was prevalent before the fix or if supporting paperwork had not been submitted.
Gareth Pritchard, founder of the Diesel Customer Forum, said: "Worryingly for owners, 820,000 cars have so far had the emissions software update in the UK, yet not one owner has had it explained to them what the fix actually does to our cars.
"We know there are a lot of angry owners experiencing identical issues and Volkswagen won't explain what is going on. I suspect that 16,904 complaints is underestimating the scale of the issue, because not everyone affected will feel compelled to write."
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