Scandal deals major blow to VW's brand image
Volkswagen AG has been hit hard by its emissions scandal in September. U.S. regulators discovered that the German carmaker had installed software on its diesel engines to allow its cars to evade pollution tests. The company admitted that it fitted 11 million diesel vehicles with the software.
In China, its biggest single market, almost 2,000 imported cars have the software installed on them, though Volkswagen last year announced it would recall these affected cars. Experts say the emissions scandal has dealt a major blow to Volkswagen's brand image in China, although it has vowed to continue its huge investment plans in China. Dong Yang, vice-president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said last year that it would take Volkswagen a decade to recover from the scandal.
Buyers decry resale of cars damaged in Tianjin blast
Cars damaged during the massive explosions in Tianjin Port last August, after undergoing refurbishing, have come back onto the market, raising anxiety among customers in China.
According to CCTV, several customers in Hebei and Henan provinces said their newly purchased Chrysler Jeep vehicles were ones damaged during the blasts. The explosions affected around 3,400 vehicles from Chrysler, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota and Hyundai. According to Chinese media reports, more than half of the imported vehicles arrive in China through Tianjin Port every year.
