Volkswagen Chief Out After ID3 Slowdowns

Volkswagen is struggling out of the gate to make good on an ambitious plan to roll out a fleet of new electric models. The slowdown has already cost one of the company’s top executives his job.

Herbert Dieiss was removed from his role as Volkswagen chairman, reportedly in part because VW still has not gotten the ID3 off of the assembly line. The move was announced shortly after the company said it would again delay the release of the car, meant to jump-start a push to compete with Tesla and satisfy exacting European Union emissions regulations.

The problem is with the car’s software, according to the Wall Street Journal. Engineers are still trying to play catch up with Tesla.

“The ID.3’s internet connection is meant to allow owners to update the car’s systems wirelessly without having to make a pit stop at a dealership,” WSJ’s William Boston wrote. “Tesla already does this, but Volkswagen’s new army of software engineers has so far failed to establish a robust link between the car and the company’s cloud-based applications that it has been developing with Microsoft Corp.”

The new electric cars - led by the compact ID.3 - were designed in part to help Volkswagen turn the page on a recent emissions cheating scandal that cost the company some $25 billion and damaged its reputation.

Investigators at the U.S. Environment Protection Agency in 2015 caught VW deliberately misrepresenting emissions information about diesel vehicles. They also found that the company tricked vehicle emissions systems to give false reads. The fall out cost the company at least $25 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also recently asserted that several VW executives were aware of the cheating some eight years before it was made public. 

How a California Lemon Law Attorney Can Help You

The Volkswagen news is yet another example of a simple, but often ignored truth: making cars is not easy. Unfortunately, vehicles regularly roll off of assembly lines loaded with significant defects that can be hard to spot and pose serious safety hazards.

That is where California’s lemon law comes in. The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act requires car manufacturers to make certain repairs to vehicles while they are under warranty. It also forces the manufacturer to buy back or replace vehicles that the car maker is unwilling or unable to fix.

If you are a car owner or lessor who is haggling with your car’s manufacturer over repairs, an experienced California lemon law attorney can help.

At the Bickel Law Firm, California lemon law attorney Brian Bickel and his team have represented hundreds of clients in defective vehicle cases in Southern California and across the state. We work tirelessly to get the people we represent the compensation they deserve.

Our offices are conveniently located in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.  Call us at (888) 800-1983 or contact us online to speak with a California lemon law attorney today.