The recently appointed Secretary of State for the Economy, Vera Rodrigues, has presented her preliminary report on the Volkswagen scandal working group.
Having been told by the former Minister for the Economy Pires de Lima that Portugal was not affected by Volkswagen’s emissions scam, the number of cars in Portugal that will need to be recalled and fixed is now estimated at around 8,000.
This number is significantly lower than the estimate in October when Pires de Lima suggested that 94,000 Volkswagens and 23,000 Seats will need to be recalled.
The working group had until November 2nd to present its findings, but even though the report is weeks late, it lacks the key figure of how many cars are affected.
With the traditional speed expected from working groups in any government, Rodrigues now says ‘end of November’ before we will know the extent of the scandal's affect on Portugal's VW driving public.
Rodrigues’ said, "Most likely there will be developments in the coming days," but said she had managed to meet with representatives from Sociedade De Importação De Veículos Automóveis, (SIVA) and from Seat Portugal. Hopefully, she will have talked things over with VW also.
Concerningly, Rodrigues announced that the working group was making little progress: "We know very little on the subject of CO2. We do not have a final idea of what is at stake."
In the interim report, the total number of diesel cars that might be affected has risen from the Government estimate of 117,000 to 125,491 but she still has no idea how many additional vehicles have been imported directly by members of the public, even though this information is easy to find from the customs authority.
The Secretary of State of Economy believes that it is too early to conclude that owners will want their cars replaced, but only because she has no idea what technical solutions VW are offering to fix the problem.
The Portuguese Government praises the transparency adopted by the German company, keenly aware of the pending €700 million investment planned by VW at the the Autoeuropa factory in Palmela.
The only criticism in the report was reserved for Brussels: "We would like the European Commission to have had a more active role in this process."
"No one will be harmed, neither the state nor the consumer,” summarised Vera Rodrigues in a report where the lack of detail was matched only by the compliant approach to a major manufacturer which happens to have a large factory in Portugal.
