Volkswagen Taps Feinberg for Emissions-Claims Program
December 17 2015 - 9:50PM
Dow Jones News
Volkswagen AG tapped victims-compensation expert Kenneth
Feinberg to run a program addressing U.S. owners' claims linked to
the German auto giant's tainted diesel-powered vehicles.
Mr. Feinberg, who earlier set up compensation funds for victims
of defective General Motors Co. cars and the BP PLC Deepwater
Horizon oil disaster, said he immediately would start crafting a
program on Volkswagen's behalf.
Separately, Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk and
others urged California regulators force Volkswagen to accelerate
its offering of environmental-friendly vehicles as punishment for
cheating on emissions tests with diesel-powered cars.
In addition to Mr. Musk, the letter to California Air Resources
Board regulators was signed by Internet entrepreneur and former
eBay Inc. executive Jeff Skoll and Michael Brune, executive
director of the Sierra Club environmental group.
Representatives for Volkswagen and Tesla had no immediate
comment on the letter. A CARB spokesman said, "Our focus has and
will continue to be cleaning the air and advancing the cleanest
vehicle and fuel technologies."
Mr. Feinberg is developing a program for Volkswagen customers
using input from vehicle owners, their lawyers and others. Michael
Horn, Volkswagen's top U.S. executive, said Mr. Feinberg's
experience would "help to guide us as we move forward to make
things right with our customers."
Mr. Feinberg's program would address U.S. owners of nearly
500,000 cars with two-liter diesel engines and another roughly
85,000 vehicles with three-liter diesel engines that regulators
found contained illegal software able to dupe government emissions
tests. The affected brands include Volkswagen, Audi and
Porsche.
Volkswagen and Audi officials were scheduled to meet with U.S.
environmental regulators on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively,
this week to discuss possible fixes for the vehicles, said a person
familiar with the matter. Regulators are expected to address
proposed fixes for the two-liter diesel engines by Tuesday.
Camille Biros, a member of Mr. Feinberg's firm who also will
work on the Volkswagen effort, declined to provide a specific time
frame for unveiling the program. The firm hopes to develop a
protocol over the next several weeks, she said.
The hiring of Mr. Feinberg comes as Volkswagen faces civil
lawsuits, criminal and regulatory probes in the U.S., Europe and
elsewhere related to emissions cheating. The company has said it is
cooperating with the probes.
In Germany, Volkswagen made sweeping changes to its senior
management in what the company said was a move to reduce complexity
and speed up decision making. The moves are designed to reduce by
nearly half the number of direct reports to its chief executive,
the company said.
Among the new executive appointees: Ulrich Eichhorn, managing
director of German automotive industry association VDA, will lead
overall research and development, while Volkswagen group services
head Fred Kappler assumes responsibility for overall sales, the
company said.
Michael Mauer will head design, in addition to his role as head
of design for Porsche AG. Wolfram Thomas, a 35-year
Volkswagen​veteran, will take charge of production. In addition,
the car maker said Ralf-Gerhard Willner, from Audi, will lead
product and modular tool-kit strategy.
Mr. MĂĽ ller indicated that additional management changes are
still ahead.
Friedrich Geiger and Monica Houston-Waesch contributed to this
article.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2015 21:35 ET (02:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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