TORONTO—Some Canadian Volkswagen owners are angry and want answers after the German automaker owned up to an organized deception that helped its diesel models slip past emissions testing in Canada and the United States.
On Friday, Sept. 18, the U.S. government ordered the company to recall half a million cars after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said VW was using software to cheat on emissions testing.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who resigned over the scandal Wednesday, had issued an apology the previous Saturday, admitting the company had broken the trust of its customers, and on Monday Volkswagen Canada suspended sales of Jetta, Passat, and Golf models dating back to 2009. Audi Canada, owned by Volkswagen, said it would stop selling its diesel-equipped A3.
VW said the issue could affect up to 11 million vehicles worldwide.
Toronto’s Jessica Lancaster owns a 2009 Jetta TDI, one of the affected models, and the holistic nutritionist said the company’s claims about the environmental friendliness of its diesel engines were important to her.
“It’s really unfair to deceive consumers who thought they were making a conscious purchase,” she said.
Lancaster says she valued the integrity of Volkswagen, and often preached to her friends about how economical and environmentally friendly the car’s supposedly clean diesel technology was.
Now she’s not even sure if she'll ever drive the car again; but the scandal has made it that much more difficult for her to get a new vehicle.
