The head of the largest car dealership network in Canada, Tom Orysiuk, finds himself in the same predicament owners of VW makes carrying a 2.0 litre TDI diesel engine are in: He doesn’t have any idea when or how Volkswagen will fix his vehicles.
“It’s something we’re monitoring and waiting for a response,” Orysiuk, chief executive of AutoCanada Inc., said by phone on Wednesday.
Edmonton-based AutoCanada operates six Volkswagen dealerships between Manitoba and British Columbia. As of Wednesday afternoon, those dealerships were unable to sell hundreds of VW models built with engines and software the German carmaker has admitted are designed to fool North American emissions tests.
MORE: Complete coverage — Volkswagen emissions scandal
“We haven’t received a lot of communication from VW other than that it’s very early stages,” Orysiuk said. “They’re going to work toward a solution for the dealers and consumers and they’ll let us know what that is.”
Asked about a possible timeline for a recall, Orysiuk said: “I don’t have a good idea of the magnitude of what they have to do to fix this – I’m not sure if they do at this stage.”
AutoCanada’s VW dealerships have roughly 200 affected cars on showroom floors, the executive said. The dealerships are paying what’s called “flooring” expenses, or interest on loans used to purchase those cars from VW – cars dealers are now prohibited from selling after Volkswagen issued a stop-sale order on Monday.
‘I don’t have a good idea of the magnitude of what they have to do to fix this – I’m not sure if they do at this stage.’
Orysiuk said he expects VW to compensate AutoCanada for those costs.
“We would anticipate that we would be reimbursed on the flooring expense for the units that are affected,” Orysiuk said.
Potential refund?
Thomas Tetzlaff, a spokesperson for VW Canada, said company officials in Germany and the United States were working to come up with a game plan as quickly as possible.
Tetzlaff stressed that the violation notice issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last Friday was an emissions violation, not a safety violation. “It is safe to continue operating the vehicles,” he said.
MORE: Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn steps down
Tetzlaff said VW has not ruled out refunds for car owners who have bought new models containing the deceptive technology and equipment. “It’s something we are considering – we are looking at everything.
“We are weighing our options. Right now it’s so fresh, these are uncharted waters,” the VW Canada spokesperson said.
About 100,000 Volkswagen models at dealerships across the country are affected by the stop-sale order, VW Canada estimates.
“It will be in place until further notice,” Tetzlaff said.
WATCH: Analysts are beginning to voice worries over the impact on the motor market from the Volkswagen crisis, saying the scandal “is overhanging the whole industry at present.”
Comments