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Volkswagen has had a lot on its plate ever since the diesel scandal broke out last September. Recently, a long-awaited agreement-in-principle was struck between Volkswagen AG and several U.S. authorities to assist close to 500,000 affected American customers with a similar solution expected for the other 100,000 affected Canadians.

According to Automotive News, once these agreements get sorted out, Volkswagen is planning a new brand strategy with a positive long-term goal in mind.

"We believe that the USA has in fact the greatest potential for Volkswagen worldwide in the next decade," said Volkswagen brand chief Dr. Herbert Diess.

Dr. Diess does point out that this won't happen in the near future, as Volkswagen will be starting from ground zero. But the plan centres around a more clear cut focus for the brand on the aspirational middle class, whether Volkswagen is a premium or mainstream brand, and a general push towards SUVs.

Once the rulings, fines and other legislation gets revealed, Volkswagen plans on pressing the reset button with this new strategy come mid-June, and the same plan is expected to make its way to Canada.

A long-awaited agreement has been struck between Volkswagen AG and several U.S. authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. EPA in regards to the diesel scandal that has affected close to 500,000 vehicles in the United States and another 100,000 in Canada.

The agreement-in-principle will possess options for American customers that own affected 2.0-litre diesel vehicles. They can either receive compensation for their vehicle in a buy back or have their existing car repaired at the expense of Volkswagen. This settlement does not cover 3.0-litre V-6 diesels that have also been affected by the scandal.

An agreement may have just been made in the United States, but the same solution will be offered up to Canadians, because the vehicles in Canada are certified by the EPA. For now, Canadians will have to wait for the next steps once they're announced by Volkswagen Canada.

"Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of its customers, dealers, regulators and the public. These agreements in principle are an important step on the road to making things right. As noted on April 21 in court, customers do not need to take any action at this time," said Thomas Tetzlaff, Manager, Media Relations at Volkswagen Canada.

The exact compensation figure has not been released, but according to Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, it would be “substantial compensation.” The specifics to the settlement will remain confidential until June 21 when the full details are to be filed in court.

With a widening investigation in Germany, Volkswagen seems to be under threat from every end. 

Recently, prosecutors are now investigating 17 employees, up from the original six. 

"This is part of the diesel investigation, the number of suspects has risen, although none are from the management board," prosecutor Klaus Ziehe said.

It's a troubling time for the Volkswagen group as the scope that started out small, might deepen a scandal that has rocked the automotive world since discovered by West Virginia University and revealed back in September 2015. 

In reaction to this news in a meeting with employees in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Mueller informed them that the emissions scandal will inflict “substantial and painful” financial damage for the German brand automaker. In addition, he stated that this investigation will keep Volkswagen busy “for a long time.”

As the investigation to what happened widens, the Volkswagen Group has also been faced with a deadline to resolve the issue that's affecting 600,000 American diesel vehicles. A recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer has given Volkswagen until March 24 to come up with an acceptable fix. 

Currently, there are 11 million vehicles under recall worldwide. Volkswagen has set aside 6.7 billion euros to fix this problem, but one would start to wonder if that will be enough given the scope of the investigation and the amount of fines and lawsuits that could potentially come its way. More of this can be figured out once Volkswagen releases its 2015 earnings figures that have been under delay as they focus on fixing the diesel cars that have been affected.

Volkswagen of America are offering up $1,000 USD of vouchers to its TDI customers that have been affected by the emissions scandal. It's the first step by the German-brand to offer up some form of goodwill, as they figure out how to fix the situation with the need for software and hardware changes.

Volkswagen Canada are expected to make a similar announcement next week in Canadian dollars. Details haven't been disclosed, but we're expecting similar figures to be handed out.

The American system's $1,000 will be broken down into a $500 prepaid Visa card that can be used wherever Visa is accepted and an additional $500 voucher that can be redeemed at Volkswagen dealerships. The offer also includes three free years of 24-hour roadside assistance.

“We are working tirelessly to develop an approved remedy for affected vehicles,” said Michael Horn, Volkswagen of America CEO in a statement. “In the meantime we are providing this goodwill package as a first step towards regaining our customers’ trust.”

There are no strings attached to these vouchers, and can be used on top of any current Volkswagen offering or trade-in. Customers eligible for the voucher are 2.0-litre owners that were cited initially by the EPA, and don't include the 3.0-litre TDIs that were reported to have the same defeat device that cheats the emissions test, as Volkswagen has denied those claims.

Audi is expected to make a similar offer to its affected customers later this week.

It's been a rough week for Volkswagen AG, and the automotive community as a whole.

Dating back to September 18, Volkswagen was issued a notice of violation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after admitting to selling diesel vehicles with a “defeat device” installed in order to circumvent emissions tests. The device was able to identify when an emissions test was occurring and turn on full emissions in order to pass the test. Once concluded, the diesel vehicle would drive off emitting 40 times the allowable level of pollutants in the United States.

The vehicles in question are the diesels that have either the 1.6-litre or 2.0-litre TDI engine. The investigation started with just under 500,000 affected, but has now reached the 11 million mark globally involving 2009-14 Volkswagen Jettas, Beetles and Golfs, as well as 2014-15 Passats. Audi vehicles weren't excused from this problem and have the same cheating device installed on its A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5.

Long-time CEO Martin Winterkorn has resigned from his post, while other Volkswagen AG executives have been cut or suspended. It's a public relations disaster that seems to have a new cloth unravelled each day.

The scandal won't go away, but solutions and change will hope to rectify the problem for its consumers worldwide. Matthias Mueller, the Porsche chief has taken over the helm as the new CEO of Volkswagen AG and we've learned that the new plan is to refit up to 11 million vehicles, a move that could cost the German-brand up to €6.5 billion ($9.8 billion CDN).

Changes will also be made in North America, where Volkswagen Canada, U.S. and Mexico will merge its operations under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland. It's a part of a decentralization process that will allow Volkswagen North America to make decisions away from the main company, and can be more focused towards its specific region and market.

The deceitful decision by Volkswagen has been damaging enough, but a report by German newspapers that they were warned against rigging emissions back in 2007 by Bosch in a memo has made the situation even worse. Last week, Volkswagen saw its shares go down 35% since the news story broke.

It will be a long road back for Volkswagen, and the company has been cooperating fully with the investigation. If there's been anything good to take out of this thus far, it's the swift and positive progress to rectify this issue for its customer base by Mueller. We will stay on top of this situation, if anything major gets announced.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Ferdinand Piech, chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG and a major figure in the German auto industry, has stepped down after clashing with other board members over his criticism of the company's CEO.

Volkswagen said in a statement Saturday that Piech, 78, was resigning with immediate effect.

Piech had said in an interview with Der Spiegel published earlier this month that he was distancing himself from CEO Martin Winterkorn.

He did not publicly give a reason for his remark. Volkswagen is profitable and saw global sales pass the 10 million mark last year as it pursues its goal of dethroning Japan's Toyota as the world's largest automaker. But its core Volkswagen brand has struggled to hold down costs and to gain market share in the United States.

Piech's view on Winterkorn was rejected by other members of the board who said that he had not agreed that stance with them. They pushed back, and the board's six-member executive committee, which includes Piech, issued a statement April 17 saying Winterkorn, 67, was "the best possible" chief executive for Volkswagen.

Winterkorn, CEO since 2007, got support from the head of Volkswagen's influential employee council, while the governor of the state of Lower Saxony, a minority shareholder in the company, criticized the public discussion about the company's leadership. Piech's cousin, Wolfgang Porsche, said Piech's comment represented his "private opinion."

The Piech and Porsche families together control a majority of shares in Volkswagen. Volkswagen said Piech's wife, Ursula, was also resigning from her board seat.

The Volkswagen AG statement said that the board's executive committee had met and decided that "in view of the the background of the last weeks the mutual trust necessary for succesfull cooperation does not exist."

The statement said that deputy board chairman Berthold Huber would serve as interim chairman.

Piech served as Volkswagen CEO from 1993 to 2002, gaining credit for turning the company around and expanding its reach with new brands such as Czech car maker Skoda at the lower end of the market and Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini at the luxury end.

The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who founded the sports car company with that name and designed the first version of the VW Beetle, Piech has been a major power broker in the German auto industry. He formerly worked at Porsche and as the head of luxury carmaker Audi, owned by Volkswagen.

At Volkswagen, he was behind the re-creation of the 1960s-era Beetle as the New Beetle and launched a luxury model, the Phaeton, which stretched Volkswagen's brand image as a mass-market carmaker. As VW board chairman he turned the tables on an attempt by Porsche to take over Volkswagen. Porsche wound up overloaded with debt and it was Volkswagen that took over Porsche and folded it into its stable of brands.