Volkswagen is storing 300000 diesels at 37 facilities in the United States
A recent court filing shows that Volkswagen has paid more than $7.4 billion to buy back about 350,000 U.S. diesel vehicles through mid-February.
Volkswagen is keeping the cars in 37 secure storage facilities around the US. One storage area includes a shuttered suburban Detroit football stadium, a former Minnesota paper mill and a desert graveyard near Victorville, California.
A spokeswoman for Volkswagen, Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement on Wednesday that the storage facility in Victorville, California, is one of many “to ensure the responsible storage of vehicles that are bought back under the terms of the Volkswagen” diesel settlements.
“These vehicles are being stored on an interim basis and 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,”
Volkswagen has said they will spend more than $25 billion in the US to cover claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers. They have made assurances that they will buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. They hope to achieve these buybacks by the end of 2019.
The court filing said they 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. The company also said back in February that they had repaired or fixed nearly 83 per cent of covered vehicles.
VW has so far issued 437,273 letters offering nearly $8 billion in compensation and buybacks after the April 2017 sentencing to three years probation after pleading guilty to three felony counts and paid $4.3 billion in federal penalties.
As is so widely known now, back in September 2015 Volkswagen admitted to circumventing the emissions control system in the U.S. on diesel vehicles sold since 2009 prompting the resignation of the company’s chief executive.
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