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In the wake of the Dieselgate scandal that erupted two years ago, Volkswagen was forced to buy the affected vehicles back from its customers in order to avoid more serious legal actions. Faced with a sudden influx of used cars that nobody would be interested in buying, the company had to find a solution for storing them quickly.
For the Detroit region, that was abandoning them in the abandoned parking lot of the abandoned Pontiac Silverdome stadium. That's how hundreds of Volkswagens and Audis began to pile up over there without anyone taking any interest in them.
Well, that recently suffered a massive change as unidentified thieves took up to 60 of the best cars they could find lying around, gave them fake titles and shipped them to other states to be sold, the Detroit Free Press reports Exactly who would buy them is another question knowing the bad reputation a TDI Volkswagen now has, but since the acquisition cost for the "dealers" was close to zero (they did have some expenses), we imagine it was a good selling price.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit as well as authorities in Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana are involved in the investigation, but no comments have been made so far. A Volkswagen spokesperson also declined to comment.
The company has its mind elsewhere these days anyway. The Germans are busy trying to erase the whole emissions scandal from the public memory, and it looks like it's going to be a very costly affair. Matthias Mueller, the CEO of Volkswagen Group, announced in Frankfurt that his company is preparing a $84 billion investment in EV development.
Volkswagen is clearly doing its best to have its electric ambitions taken seriously and hopes to become a leader in the market over the next five to ten years or so. And with that kind of money to spend, we wouldn't be in the least surprised if it actually manages to pull it off. For now, though, it looks like keeping those dirty diesel vehicles off the street is proving a lot more difficult than anticipated.
Well, that recently suffered a massive change as unidentified thieves took up to 60 of the best cars they could find lying around, gave them fake titles and shipped them to other states to be sold, the Detroit Free Press reports Exactly who would buy them is another question knowing the bad reputation a TDI Volkswagen now has, but since the acquisition cost for the "dealers" was close to zero (they did have some expenses), we imagine it was a good selling price.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit as well as authorities in Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana are involved in the investigation, but no comments have been made so far. A Volkswagen spokesperson also declined to comment.
The company has its mind elsewhere these days anyway. The Germans are busy trying to erase the whole emissions scandal from the public memory, and it looks like it's going to be a very costly affair. Matthias Mueller, the CEO of Volkswagen Group, announced in Frankfurt that his company is preparing a $84 billion investment in EV development.
Volkswagen is clearly doing its best to have its electric ambitions taken seriously and hopes to become a leader in the market over the next five to ten years or so. And with that kind of money to spend, we wouldn't be in the least surprised if it actually manages to pull it off. For now, though, it looks like keeping those dirty diesel vehicles off the street is proving a lot more difficult than anticipated.
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