Volkswagen was supposed to decide on potential payouts to owners of diesel cars and a decision was taken late on Monday in this respect.

As per company sources, Volkswagen AG is set to offer credit cards to existing owners of its diesel cars. These cards will be worth $1,000, half of which is to be spent at dealerships of Audi and Volkswagen. These cards will be offered to owners of diesel models that do not meet emissions standards as laid down by governments in the United States. This was announced by the US subsidiary of Volkswagen on Monday itself.

There are approximately 500, 000 eligible owners of Audi and Volkswagen models which come with TDI 2.0 litre diesel engines. They can apply for receipt of a $500 prepaid Visa card and a dealership card worth approximately $500. These freebies are topped off with free roadside assistance for a period of three years. Volkswagen is expected to pay out approximately $500 million as a result of these initiatives and half of the same could flow to dealerships as a result. The emissions scandal has engulfed the iconic German brand for a long time now and the crisis worsened last week upon Volkswagen’s revelation that apart from nitrogen oxide, it had also understated fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions figures in Europe.

However, US senators have been equivocal in their demand for buy-back options for customers and suing rights for every car owner. Approximately 482, 000 cars sold in the US had installed software to cheat emissions tests for nitrogen oxide. The details of the goodwill package were posted on the Volkswagen official website on Monday while Audi will be doing the same soon. It remains to be seen whether such initiatives actually create a flutter in the Indian market where several models are up for testing in the near future.