Photo: Volkswagen
Remember how no further than yesterday, Fiat Italy announced cash incentives for anybody trading in their Volkswagen cars for one of their own? And then Ford Italy responded with a similar move?
Well, Volkswagen North America announced something in the same vein, only it's not aimed at cars from other brands. They are giving away $2,000 to any existing Volkswagen owner who wants to purchase or lease any new gasoline or hybrid model.
Considering Volkswagen fears the repercussions of its world-famous diesel emissions scandal, this comes as a short-term solution to maintain the loyalty of the company's existing clients. However, some might feel this is just a way of further offending them by trying to buy them out. After the company knowingly lied about the technical specifications of its cars, it now appears as if it's trying to buy their trust, even though the official story is "repay their loyalty."
If you're a Volkswagen owner and can live with the fact that, although the automotive industry is known to be a dog-eat-dog type of affair, Volkswagen might have gone over the top this time, this is the perfect moment to add a petrol or hybrid VW to your car park.
The incentives are available nation-wide and go as follows: from $2,000 to $2,750 for the Passat, $2,250 for the smaller Jetta, and as much as $4,000 for the Touareg SUV, CC four-door coupe and Eos convertible.
Volkswagen managed to finish September with a rise of 0.6% in sales, which is perfectly explainable by two facts: first, the overall market rose by a much larger 16 percent, so Volkswagen's figure is actually very low when put in perspective; second, the Dieselgate bubble burst on the 18th of September, so only less than half of last month was really affected.
“But how long can the factory afford to do that?” That's the million (or is it billion?) dollars question asked by a dealer who (for obvious reasons) preferred to remain unnamed.
Considering Volkswagen fears the repercussions of its world-famous diesel emissions scandal, this comes as a short-term solution to maintain the loyalty of the company's existing clients. However, some might feel this is just a way of further offending them by trying to buy them out. After the company knowingly lied about the technical specifications of its cars, it now appears as if it's trying to buy their trust, even though the official story is "repay their loyalty."
If you're a Volkswagen owner and can live with the fact that, although the automotive industry is known to be a dog-eat-dog type of affair, Volkswagen might have gone over the top this time, this is the perfect moment to add a petrol or hybrid VW to your car park.
The incentives are available nation-wide and go as follows: from $2,000 to $2,750 for the Passat, $2,250 for the smaller Jetta, and as much as $4,000 for the Touareg SUV, CC four-door coupe and Eos convertible.
Volkswagen managed to finish September with a rise of 0.6% in sales, which is perfectly explainable by two facts: first, the overall market rose by a much larger 16 percent, so Volkswagen's figure is actually very low when put in perspective; second, the Dieselgate bubble burst on the 18th of September, so only less than half of last month was really affected.
“But how long can the factory afford to do that?” That's the million (or is it billion?) dollars question asked by a dealer who (for obvious reasons) preferred to remain unnamed.
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