CARY, N.C. – As one industry observer put it, Volkswagen dealers might be working within a “fairly sketchy framework” on how to handle about 500,000 diesel vehicles with compromised emissions systems the automaker has agreed to potentially buy back through various means based on negotiations brokered between the OEM and federal regulators.
A deadline-mandated preliminary agreement came to light on Thursday after former FBI director Robert Mueller served as moderator of the negotiations mandated by a U.S. District Court judge between Volkswagen and several federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“A federal judge’s blessing of Volkswagen’s framework of a plan to take care of its customers is a long-awaited first step, but much more work needs to be done to flesh out the details in the coming months. Indeed, it is a fairly sketchy framework at this point,” Autotrader senior analyst Michelle Krebs said in comments sent to the media, including Auto Remarketing.
“Meantime, Volkswagen customers will have to stay patient a bit longer until all of the details of the compensation deal are hammered out,” Krebs continued. “Then they will have to carefully weigh all of their options, which include having Volkswagen buy back their cars, have them repaired if that is possible, or return their lease cars.”
Should all owners of the VW diesel models included in the controversy decide to give up their units, the impact in the wholesale market is difficult to project. That’s the assessment shared by ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos when Auto Remarketing reached him on Friday.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty as to how many cars will actually enter the wholesale channel again as a result of this as well as what corrective measures have to be made to the vehicles before they can be remarketed,” Kontos said.
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