A year on from Volkswagen emissions scandal less that 10 per cent of affected cars repaired

A year on from the discovery that Volkswagen diesel cars had been fitted with software to cheat emissions tests only around one in 10 of the affected cars have been repaired.

On September 18 2015 regulators in the United States ordered Volkswagen to recall diesel cars when it was found that they contained the illegal devices to defeat emissions tests. Following this Volkswagen said that 1.2 million vehicles were affected by the issue in the UK including VW brand, Audi, Skoda, Seat and VW commercial vehicles.

Volkswagen has reported that over 110,000 vehicles in the UK have undergone remedial action so far. The company said the repair process was complex and that they have written to over 300,000 customers in the UK to request that they have the work to fix the problem carried out.

Volkswagen has agreed a compensation package for customers affected in the US but has refused to pay any compensation to affected customers in Europe.

Law firm Leigh Day has been approached by  around 10,000 UK Volkswagen customers who feel that they have been lied to by Volkswagen and who are angry about how the company are continuing to treat their UK European customers. Leigh Day is preparing legal action against Volkswagen.

Leigh Day solicitor Shazia Yamin, who is representing the VW owners, said: “Whilst Volkswagen have agreed a compensation package in the US, it is important to bear in mind that only around  600,000 of the 11 million vehicles affected worldwide were sold in the States.

“In the EU however, where some 8 million affected vehicles were sold, Volkswagen have refused to pay any compensation. Instead they continue to deny that the software fitted to vehicles sold in the EU was illegal under the applicable law and insist that they will be able to repair the vehicles with no adverse effect on the vehicles' performance.

"To date less than 10% of the affected vehicles have been repaired. More worryingly, Volkswagen have released no detailed information on what the repair involves, leaving affected owners in the dark about what is actually being done to their vehicle.

“Some owners who have had their vehicles repaired have contacted us to report that their vehicles have suffered from a reduction of power and miles per gallon (MPG).”