Volkswagen Car Salesman Salary Negatively Affected by VW Emissions Scandal

Vehicle salespersons who saw their Volkswagen car salesman salary drop after the dieselgate scandal could be eligible for compensation.

Back in 2015, regulators discovered Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles violated Clean Air Act regulations. VW had installed a device that caused the vehicles to emit lower levels of pollution when they were in test mode, which allowed the vehicles to fraudulently pass emissions testing.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found nearly a half million VW diesel cars that were sold in America emitted up to 40 times more pollution than Clean Air Act regulations allow.

The dieselgate investigation found that the VW vehicles had a “defeat device” installed in the engine software that enabled the car to reduce diesel emissions by using temporary “clean diesel” techniques when in test mode. Once the cars re-entered the driving atmosphere of normal road conditions, the emissions skyrocketed.

Dieselgate Negatively Affected Volkswagen Car Salesman Salary

Once the public caught wind of dieselgate, they put the brakes on buying VW vehicles, negatively impacting the average Volkswagen car salesman salary. Although dieselgate resulted in Volkswagen only stopping sales of its diesel vehicles, the entire brand took a hit in sales.

In October 2015 (one month after dieselgate broke), sales of VW’s passenger brand dropped 5.3 percent, according to Forbes. In July 2016, Bloomberg claimed VW’s U.S. sales fell 22 percent, making it the eight month in a row the automaker saw a decline in sales. The Jetta and Passat models suffered drops in sales as well.

A Volkswagen car salesman salary consists mainly of commission. Fewer sales translate to a smaller paycheck.

As far back as early 2014, VW allegedly knew dieselgate was going to become well-known around the world, but the company allegedly did not inform nor prepare its employees for this major event that would impact all employees in a negative manner.

Every Volkswagen car salesman salary that dropped was not the result of poor salesmanship. The fallout from deceiving regulators and the public regarding the true pollution generated by the VW vehicles became a public relations nightmare for the company. Sales were bound to be affected.

At least one class action lawsuit has been filed, alleging the Volkswagen car salesman salary was negatively impacted by VW’s emissions fraud.

“The precipitous drop in the value of Affected Vehicles, the inability of VW Commissioned Vehicle Sales Representatives to sell Affected Vehicles, and the tremendous diminution n the Volkswagen brand value has caused direct and quantifiable harm to Plaintiff and the VW Commissioned Vehicle Sales Representatives Class,” alleges the Volkswagen car salesman salary lawsuit.

If you worked as a VW sales representative when the emissions scandal broke and you saw your income suffer, you could 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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