No Compensation for Europe Says Volkswagen Group CEO

"We have a different situation here (in Europe)," said Matthias Müller, Volkswagen Group CEO to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

"You don't have to be a mathematician to realize that compensation at arbitrarily high levels would overwhelm Volkswagen."

Müller's comments are in response to those made EU Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska last week. Bienkowska said the automaker should offer a program to European owners similar to those in the U.S.

"Volkswagen should voluntarily pay European car owners compensation that is comparable with that which they will pay U.S. consumers," said Bienkowska to Die Welt.

What's so different about the situation in the U.S. to Europe?

The U.S. has much stricter regulations than Europe when it comes to emissions. Vehicles have to meet certain standards in terms of how much emissions come out the tailpipe. This is one of the key reasons why all diesel vehicles have some sort of treatment such as AdBlue to help cut down on the amount of NOx emissions.

In Europe, Volkswagen only needed to replace certain parts and update software to make their vehicles legal. To do the same in the U.S., Volkswagen would need to make significant changes and repairs.

"In the U.S. the (emission) limits are stricter, which makes the fix more complicated. And taking part in the buyback is voluntary (for customers), which is not the case in Germany, for example," said Müller.

Pic Credit: Volkswagen