Volkswagen Scandal May Have Affected VW Sales Rep Income

The emissions Volkswagen scandal made public in September 2015 had far-reaching effects for the company and allegedly its commissioned salespeople.

Commonly referred to as “Diesel-gate,” the Volkswagen scandal concerned a tweak of the diesel engine’s software that made the cars able to distinguish between the engine running in an environmental testing situation and everyday performance.

Supposedly, this tweaking of the software in its diesel engine vehicles allowed for the passage of a Volkswagen diesel car through the emissions testing process with “flying colors.”

Once the testing process was over, however, the car would then proceed to emit as much as 40 times more toxins into the environment in real life operating conditions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act against the domestic arm of the automaker, Volkswagen of America.

There were nearly 500,000 VW diesel cars on American soil that were part of this Volkswagen scandal. Globally, there were 11 million cars affected by the software tweak.

Not surprisingly after the news break, good faith in the company decreased as evidenced by a sudden drop in sales reported by Forbes magazine. The magazine noted in its November 2015 issue that overall sales had slowed by 5.3 percent in the month afterwards.

In the previous two years, the Volkswagen company had had record sales of more than $200 billion. By the end of 2015, however, Forbes noted a drop for that year of 4.7 percent when analyzed against the 2014’s sales data.

The Volkswagen company removed its diesel cars from production, but the damage in terms of the company’s reputation was not so easy to repair. The Volkswagen scandal led to eight consecutive months of declining sales.

The Volkswagen Scandal and the VW Sales Rep

The average VW sales rep was caught unaware by the Volkswagen scandal, although allegedly the top management of the organization had had some foresight that the software tweak was going to be uncovered.

When the public relations issue did raise its ugly head and the car brand became less desirable, the VW sales rep was subject to a significant loss of income. This was especially true because the lion’s share of the wages they make are from commissions.

In March 2017, a new class action lawsuit was filed against the Volkswagen company. The plaintiff and class members consisting of former and current commissioned VW sales reps allege measurable financial harm done to them directly by the company in pursuit of profit.

By tweaking the software and breaking the law to secure sales, they allege the company wantonly risked the future of the brand’s appeal. This supposedly had immediate effects on the short-term and long-term income of the VW sales reps.

A current class action investigation is seeking VW sales reps who worked when the Volkswagen “diesel-gate” scandal story broke and who suffered a significant loss of subsequent income. If this describes you, you may have a legal claim.

Join a Free Volkswagen Sales Commissions Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you worked as a Volkswagen sales representative when the VW dieselgate scandal broke and you saw a drop in your commissioned sales, you may qualify to join this VW sales representative class action lawsuit investigation.

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