Volkswagen Apologizes, Promises to Win Back Customer Trust

Volkswagen emission scandal is perhaps one of the biggest scams in recent years. Needless to say, the German auto giant not only broke the trust of its customers, but the negative publicity has also badly hurt its reputation – something which may take years to rebuild.

CTV News reported that Herbert Diess, a top Volkswagen executive, apologized for the emissions-rigging scandal at the Tokyo auto show on Wednesday. He also promised to win the trust of customers again and added that the launch of diesel vehicle will be delayed in Japan.

"On behalf of my entire company, I'd like to apologize," said Diess, emphasizing that the priority is to fix the problem, uncover what happened and make sure the scandal never happens again.

The company has been burdened with myriad of problems ever since the news of the emissions-cheating scandal broke. It admitted to U.S. regulators that it programmed its car to detect when they were being tested and alter the running of their diesel engines to conceal their true emissions. Discrepancies relate to vehicles with Type EA 189 engines, involving some eleven million vehicles worldwide, Volkswagen said in a statement.

"We are doing everything we can to bring back this trust in our brand," said Diess, promising to "create a new and even better Volkswagen," rallying behind the principles of "innovation, responsibility and lasting value."

The launch of a diesel model in Japan, which had been planned for the first quarter of 2016, will be delayed until the second half, according to Volkswagen.

The Guardian reported that the company posted quarterly loss (an operating loss of €3.48bn in the third quarter against a profit of €3.2bn a year earlier) for the first time in 15 years.

When asked if the company could attain the No. 1 slot again, Diess said that wasn't a priority and winning back trust was.

"Then we talk about market share," he said.