Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - 19

* MAY 2017

TDI fans snap up leftover 2015s
Sales ban lifted,
but for dealerships,
damage has been
hard on service
departments

By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

SINCE THE SALES BAN
was lifted on Volkswagen's
2015-model-year TDI vehicles in mid-April, they have
been flying off lots across the
country, and some dealers are
already sold out.
Vehicles equipped with the
software-updated 2.0-litre TDI
four-cylinder engine - the
first of two stages of the emissions fix approved by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) - can be legally driven in Canada until
the second stage of software updates and hardware
installations is completed in
2018 at no charge to owners.
Canadian-government actions

have largely echoed responses from the United States; the
EPA approved removing the
U.S. sales ban in late March.
The approval is limited at this
stage to Generation 3 (or 2015
model year)
Golf, Jetta,
Passat and
Beetle.
The
legality of
the vehicles plus the
deep incentives being
offered to
Bob Verwey,
buyers
president of
mean that
the vehicles Owasco Inc.,
says his dealare being
snapped up. erships' service
They've departments
have been hit
been very
hard by the
popular,"
Volkswagen
Jason
diesel scandal.
Harris,
sales manager at Roussel
Volkswagen in Miramichi,
N.B., told Automotive News
Canada. His dealership had 16
units on the lot when the sales

ban was lifted, with a mix of
the four-door Jetta/Golf vehicles, and they were all sold
within two weeks.
Buyer incentives range
from $5,000 to $9,500 on models
priced from the mid-$20,000s to
just under $40,000, which varies based on whether buyers
pay cash or choose financing
being offered at zero per cent.
Jason Locke, general
sales manager at Northland
Volkswagen in Calgary, said
his dealership had 20 units
left in the last week of April
out of the 50 initially in stock.
He reported that the sale was
attracting both returning customers and new buyers.
"It's a bit of a mix," he said.
"The incentives are obviously speaking for themselves.
There are some terrific opportunities there."
Bob Verwey, president of
Owasco Inc., the parent company of a group of Volkswagen
and Audi dealerships east of
Toronto, said that his 70 units
were spoken for before the selling ban was lifted.

They've been sold
for a year. We've had
customers waiting and
waiting for them, and
almost fighting for them.
BOB VERWEY

Owasco Volkswagen/Audi

"They've been sold for a
year," Verwey said. "We've
had customers waiting and
waiting for them, and almost
fighting for them."

DEALERSHIPS KEPT INVENTORY
All 70 units were in stock at
his dealerships when the ban
went into effect and were not
obtained from other dealers,
he said, adding that no dealer
would have sold their TDIs.
"We have such a big base
for TDI that they were all sold

to local customers."
Verwey added, however,
that this apparent positive
development doesn't mean
his dealerships are out of the
woods as far as fallout from
the emissions scandal is concerned.
"It's hurt us big time," he
said. "It's our service operations that are really affected the most. People in the last
year have not been repairing
their diesels because they're
giving them back."
The lift on the sales ban
also applies to unsold 2015
Audi A3 models equipped
with the 2.0-litre TDI engine,
of which there were about 70
available nationwide, according to Audi Canada spokesman
Cort Nielsen.
Sales are still on hold
for vehicles equipped with
Generation 1 and 2 2.0-litre
TDIs (i.e., all units from model-year 2014 or older) as well
as all 3.0-litre six-cylinder TDI
models as fixes and consumer
settlements for those products
have yet to be finalized. - ANC

Claimants require a bill of sale to prove their ownership
of the affected vehicle, although Volkswagen Canada
spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff said proof of registration
during the settlement period will suffice.

Dealers take on buffer role between customers and settlement
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

He said some customers have opted
to not stick with VW, but remained St.
James customers through purchasing a
used vehicle of another brand.
Standing behind customers at a time
like this is a key strategy in ensuring
the long-term sustainability of the business, said Karl Littler, vice-president of
the Retail Council of Canada.
"The goal is placing the customer as
closely as possible to where they would
have been had the malfeasance or error
never occurred," Littler said.
He said whatever the problem -
from fraudulent engine-control software to simple errors in execution -
getting ahead of customers' needs and
providing support is crucial in helping
minimize damage.
"I think in the dealers' case, it's an
apt strategy to turn a negative into a
positive."

REASONABLE REQUEST
Lawyer Harvey Strosberg, co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the class-action
lawsuit, settled in the Superior Court
of Justice Ontario, said it's not unrea-

ELIGIBLE VEHICLES
* VW Jetta TDI, 2009-2015
* VW Jetta Wagon TDI, 2009
* VW Golf TDI, 2010-2013, 2015
* VW Passat TDI, 2012-2015
* VW Beetle TDI, 2013-2015
* VW Golf Wagon TDI, 2010-2014
* VW Golf Sportwagon TDI, 2015
* Audi A3, 2010-2013, 2015

sonable to demand proof of ownership,
as is standard for all class-action settlements.
"A person who asserts he or she is
a (class-action) member has the obligation to prove he or she was an owner
on Sept. 18, 2015," Strosberg said.
Thomas Tetzlaff, VW Canada
spokesman, said that if the original bill
of sale cannot be found, proof of vehicle registration covering the settlement
period will suffice.

Tetzlaff said the settlement covers a
number of scenarios, including owners
who want to keep their vehicle, people
who owned an affected vehicle prior to
Sept. 18, 2015, and sold it after that date,
people whose vehicle was written off
due to damage after Sept. 18, 2015, as
well as people who had leased an affected vehicle. Lessees are entitled to damages irrespective of whether their leases are still active.

OWNERS HAVE OPTIONS
Owners and lessees had until March
4, 2017, to exclude themselves from the
settlement and until Sept. 18, 2017, to
register their claim. Opting out gave
owners the right to sue independently, but at their own risk and cost.
Failing to meet either deadline forfeits
any right to settlement money or legal
action.
Affected customers can keep their
vehicles and receive the approved
hardware and software fixes plus cash
ranging from $5,100 to $8,000 depending on vehicle. They can also trade in
or sell the vehicle back to Volkswagen
at a price based on its Canadian Black
Book value on Sept. 18, 2015. The kilo-

Bryan Romaniuk, sales manager at
St. James Volkswagen in Winnipeg,
says that many customers are staying with VW, trading up to other
models (Atlas shown). The key to
retention has been customer service
during the waiting period.

metre reading is taken into account.
The settlement also applies to dealers - Volkswagen and otherwise -
who held title on affected vehicles in
their inventories.
Customers who sold an affected
vehicle between Sept. 18, 2015, and
March 4, 2017, can receive a cash payment ranging from $2,550 to $4,000,
depending on the vehicle. The benefits
to lessees are more complicated, but
can be viewed at www.vwcanadasettlement.ca. - ANC

http://www.vwcanadasettlement.ca http://www.vwcanadasettlement.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017