Volkswagen of America Settlement
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ARB Settles with Volkswagen of America for $552,500
Air Resources Board (ARB) has recently settled a case with Volkswagen of America (VW) in the amount of $552,500 for violations to the California Health and Safety Code 43151 (HS&C).
VW delivered to California retail locations 85 2002 model year new motor vehicles that were not certified by the ARB for sale in California. VW admits that the vehicles were subsequently offered for sale and 84 were sold to California residents due to an error in VW's vehicle order guide and electronic vehicle order system. VW self-reported these facts to the ARB, stopped sales of the affected vehicles and initiated recovery of the affected vehicles for shipment outside of California.
VW has undertaken the following corrective actions to prevent the recurrence of the violations. VW located and repurchased 81 out of 84 of the vehicles sold new to California residents and 81 vehicles were removed from California. Despite VW's diligent efforts to make contact with customers, who were affected, three (3) vehicles have not been recovered. VW understands and has informed these customers that the vehicles cannot be registered in California. Additionally, VW has implemented new programs to prevent California dealers from receiving allocations of models that are non-California certified.