Las Vegas – Volkswagen held a meeting on Saturday with its 650 U.S dealers in Las Vegas and addressed the company’s intentions to continue its commitment to a mass-market strategy in the country, even after the emissions-testing scandal.
The German carmaker aims to redefine its image in the U.S of a luxury car maker and change it to a more accessible one, which implies the German giant company’s willingness to sacrifice exclusivity over quantity.
“We are working to redefine the Volkswagen brand in the United States by strengthening our management team, our partnerships with dealers, and our product portfolio,” said Herbert Diess, global head of the Volkswagen brand.
The German car maker wants to grow the volume consistently beyond past levels, according to Diess. To do that, he assured it will be with their partners and dealers. The ideas and requirements from their U.S connections will be included in the decision-making of the relaunch, even though Volkswagen has been previously criticized for ignoring feedback.
As the company tries to seize the discontent over their dealers who suffered the severe consequences of Volkswagen’s cheats in emission tests, the subject related to consumer compensations for the about 600,000 diesel vehicles compromised in the U.S., was not discussed.
Some action is required by the partners and dealers, according to Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Autotrader.com. He commented that the company keeps talking about where they want to be with sales but there is still no plan for taking care of the customers they have and win back the ones they are losing.
Mr. Diess said in an interview that he was not allowed to give specific details over their efforts to address the legal, financial and commercial ramifications of the scandal, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Commercial relations continuity
Even though there were worries about the scandal situation and the possible compensations, dealers reached a consensus in a two-hour meeting, without Volkswagen executives, over the continuity of their relation with the German company.
There was a general agreement to keep their relationship with the company and be patient for financial settlements and other reparations, according to a meeting participant.
However, a small group of dealers resulted unhappy with the Volkswagen executives and their intentions. Several of them are ready to file a lawsuit, said Leonard Bellavia the representative attorney.
Source: The Wall Street Journal