Volkswagen ‘sold thousands of unlicensed pre-production vehicles’

Volkswagen has found itself in hot water again – this time over claims that it knowingly sold thousands of unlicensed pre-production vehicles.

According to the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, the manufacturer admits selling 6,700 of these cars between 2006 and 2018. It says 4,000 were sold in Germany, with the rest shipped to elsewhere in Europe and to North America. Another publication, Spiegel, claims internal documents suggest that almost 17,000 test cars were sold on the used market.

Pre-production cars are built to showcase and test a new model before it comes to showrooms, but Handelsblatt says none of the cars that VW sold had been approved by transport authorities and should have been scrapped under German law.

Speaking to the newspaper, Klaus Müller, head of German consumer rights group VZBV, said: “The fact that these are VW models built between 2006 and 2018 show that Volkswagen has not understood anything, even three years after the diesel scandal became known.”

The report says Volkswagen isn’t aware of any accidents involving pre-production cars but the firm would be recalling them because it was ‘not certain’ how much they differed from the approved production versions of the cars. It also suggests that German authorities are debating whether to fine the manufacturer ‘a couple of thousand euros’ for each test vehicle sold – a move that could see it penalised to the tune of some 34m euros (circa £30.5m).