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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.