VW is storing 300,000 diesels at 37 facilities around U.S.

The storage facility in Victorville, California, (pictured) is one of many "to ensure the responsible storage of vehicles that are bought back under the terms of the Volkswagen" diesel settlements.

Photo credit: Reuters

David Shepardson
Reuters
March 31, 2018 06:01 CET

Volkswagen Group has been storing nearly 300,000 vehicles it was forced to buy back from owners in 37 secure storage facilities around the United States.

VW's temporary parking lots include a shuttered suburban Detroit football stadium, a former Minnesota paper mill and a sun-bleached desert graveyard near Victorville, California.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the vehicles are being stored on an interim basis.

They are "routinely maintained in a manner to ensure their long-term operability and quality so that they may be returned to commerce or exported once U.S. regulators approve appropriate emissions modifications," she said.

In total, VW has agreed to spend more than $25 billion in the U.S. for claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. The buybacks will continue through the end of 2019.

A court filing said through Dec. 31 Volkswagen had reacquired 335,000 diesel vehicles, resold 13,000 and destroyed about 28,000 vehicles. As of the end of last year, VW was storing 294,000 vehicles around the country.

VW must buy back or fix 85 percent of the vehicles involved by June 2019 or face higher payments for emissions.

The company said in February it has repaired or fixed nearly 83 percent of covered vehicles and expects to soon hit the requirement.

Through mid-February VW has issued 437,273 letters offering nearly $8 billion in compensation and buy backs.

In April 2017 Volkswagen was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to three felony counts and paid $4.3 billion in federal penalties. The automaker in September 2015 admitted to circumventing the emissions control system in U.S. diesel vehicles for vehicles sold since 2009, prompting the resignation of the company's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

Photo credit: Reuters

In April 2017 Volkswagen was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to three felony counts and paid $4.3 billion in federal penalties. The automaker in September 2015 admitted to circumventing the emissions control system in U.S. diesel vehicles for vehicles sold since 2009, prompting the resignation of the company's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

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