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THE HEAD OF Volkswagen Ireland has been up in front of the Oireachtas Transport Committee this afternoon.
Danish native Lars Himmer, who has only been in the job since January of this year, offered his “sincere apologies” for the emissions scandal that has knocked the motoring giant for six.
Volkswagen Ireland deals in Audi, Skoda, and Seat cars to name just three in addition to its own brand.
The company is responsible for almost 2,700 staff here, both directly and indirectly.
“We have let down our customers both abroad and in Ireland, and we’ve abused our long history and the trust placed in us,” Himmer said in his opening statement, a sort of prolonged act of contrition.
We are taking these matters very seriously. We’ve fallen short of the standards expected of us. We will fix this at our expense, and we will co-operate fully with both policy-makers and regulators in order to do so.
The German auto maker has been in crisis since revealing it fitted 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with a special software mode to cheat emissions tests.
The function meant its cars could breeze through pollution regulations, but in normal driving the vehicles would pump out much higher quantities of toxic and greenhouse gases.
Himmer claims that he first became aware of the trouble facing his company on 19 September, and on 22 September about the extent to which European cars were affected.
Volkswagen Ireland is taking responsibility for 110,000 domestic cars and imports. The rogue software affects cars registered between 2008 and 2015 bearing a specific EA 189 diesel engine.
“All owners affected have been contacted regarding the remedy for the issue,” Himmer said.
We have suspended sales of new cars with the problem engine. I’d like to point out that the successor to the problem engine the EA 188 is not affected.
Currently almost 116,000 vehicles have been clarified by the company as it sifts through what car owners are affected, while 40,000 problem cars have been identified via the dedicated website set up to tackle the crisis.
Himmer seemed slightly confused by Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley suggesting that he had no idea who the injured party was with regard to the scandal.
“I am not sure what the question means,” he said. “I am not a legal professional, and that is a legal question.”
We are doing everything in our power to correct the problem, and to start the process of regaining trust with our customers and with our staff.
We have spent 65 years building up an excellent reputation in this country, and we share everyone’s rightful concern over this issue.
Himmer told the committee that it was unclear at present how much the remedy employed by the company will cost them.
“All I can say is it will cause as little inconvenience as possible for our customers,” he said.
Asked whether or not the investigation was in any way close to identifying the culprit behind the software code affecting the cars he said he has “no insights as to who is responsible for the software issue”.
I’m hoping that we will find out very quickly. We need to know and the public does too.
We are working with all the relevant authorities in a co-operative way. But these investigations are only just beginning.
Volkswagen, which has lost one quarter of its market value since the scandal broke, has set aside €6.5 billion to deal with the immediate fallout from the revelations, but in the long term it faces many times that amount in fines from regulators alone.
If you suspect that your car may be affected by this issue you can check whether or not that is the case using your vehicle registration number at www.campaigncheck.ie
Additional reporting Peter Bodkin
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Goodbye Phantom, you were good back in the day when you actually played exciting independent music. Now you’re as bland as every other commercial music station. What a pity.
Phantom failed because it’s too mainstream? How does that make any sense?
Go home Beatrice, you’re drunk. :)
She has a point. If you want to listen to mainstream radio, there are plenty of options, and they would be done far better than Phantom. Phantom is supposed to cover a niche music interest. Were it to actually address this area, it *might* stand a better chance of success.
Alternative music???
I’m afraid Bilderberger Dennis (O’Brien), Commuinicorp’s
(and Today FM’s)
(and Newstalk’s)
(and IRadio’s)
(And Spin Radio’s)
(and 98 FM’s)
(And the Indo’s)
(And the Herlad’s)
owner and Seanie Fitz’s BFF
has other plans for what he wants you to listen too.
A few good Pirate’s would sort that out though.
Wouldn’t it Dennisconi??
Any crack in Harto’s these days Dennis?
You can hardly call Phantom mainstream. It already is niche. If it were to become even more niche it would have failed sooner.
Phantom is in decline not because it doesn’t play enough independent music. It’s in decline because Garth Brooks can sell out 5 nights in Croke Park. Look at the current charts and they’ll also show you why Phantom failed. To say Phantom failed because it’s too mainstream makes no sense. If it went even more left field it would have failed even quicker.
RIP Phantom – the only station that played decent music.
Well said, couldn’t agree more.
Great comment.
Great station and a real shame its going to change. Discovered some real good irish bands throigh them. No real station to liaten to now, may turn to nova a bit more often but the rest are not for me.
This was always the case. An alternative/indie music station (run well and understanding what makes a niche music station work) was never going to challenge mainstream music fans’ tastes. I would guess that Phantom’s target was 5% of listener figures in the Dublin area. By being simply another Nova, it was never going to succeed. It may also have failed had it tried sticking to its original remit, but I have a feeling we will never know for sure.
It didn’t help that the breakfast slot which probably accounts for a large share of listenership has been pure muck for the last year or more.
It’s a shame because it was a great station and there is some real talent there. Richie and Richie in particular deserve to go on and do better things.
Putting Richie and Richie in the breakfast slot would probably halt the station’s decline instantly.
They can’t have been all that great if they can’t even make enough money to keep a staff employed.
I have to say I’m gutted to see phantom struggle and eventually fail. It was the only credible music station left. The fact Nova is doing so well is beyond me, all they play is the same power rock crap that appeals to those on nostalgia trips, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, boston etc… Played day in and day out!
Maybe if Ireland hadn’t suffered the mass emigration it has in recent years I reckon a large proportion of Phantoms target listeners are sadly living/working abroad.
You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.
He’s right with regards to the drivel played on nova. Terrible presenters too who don’t know their arse from their elbow when it comes to music.
JNLR figures tell quite a different story, as does the fact that Phantom can’t find a solid footing while Nova is a younger station and very much established.
You clearly don’t know how to contribute to an ” opinion” based comment thread.
When you say Nova plays only the old tunes, you’re wrong. There are various programmes on the station airing new music from all around the country. The presenters are solid, fun and know their business. Opining in such a way as to suggest another station with the same aim – to offer an alternative to mainstream – survives on the nostalgic preferences harbourbered by listeners is deeply incorrect. Finally, maybe it’s unusual but gathering information before forming an opinion is kinda interesting, you should try it.
I woke up yesterday and as usual turned on nova and the first three songs were aerosmith tom petty and oasis. The newest was 18 yrs old. I like nova but not all day….they play grandad rock….i wished they played dad rock it wud be a vast improvement!
Didn’t they fire loads of staff relatively recently? They seem to be chronically badly mismanaged, and there are some terrible shows with some presenters showing little or no chemistry with each other. The two Richies are great though, and that Friday night show is something I will always try to listen to. I still miss Pearl on Sunday mornings.
They seem determined to hang on to some lousy presenters while happy to lose other vastly more talented ones. Pearl was great. I loved Cinerama. I still mourn Sinister Pete. The Richies are fantastic and I hope they survive the shake up.
Xfm tried for the license years ago and lost out to Phantom.
They should sell the licence to Xfm and let them try make a success out of being an alternative radio station.
I have listened to Phantom since it’s pirate days, and whilst it may not be as good as it once was, it’s a damn sight better than the others.
They have put me on to a load of new music throughout the years. No chance of hearing The Wild Beasts, Eels, Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club etc travelling to and from work on FM104 etc.
RIP Phantom, I wish all the staff in there the very best.
Phantom has been a disaster for a few years now. They basically decided to turn it in Rock 104fm (showing my age). It was a cynical ploy to overly commercialise the station. I stopped listening a while back when I realised I hadn’t discovered any new bands in ages. Saying it’s down to the Garth Brookes squad is deluded, there is enough non mainstream stuff to support a station like phantom but Denis O’Brien decided against it.
There’s plenty of quality stuff on Phantom but it tends to get pushed to the outer regions of the schedule while the more bland stuff clogs up the daytime. Late night Phantom can still be great.
Problem is that the playlist they use is too short, it wouldn’t be uncommon to hear the same tracks 3 or 4 times in the same afternoon. It’s still the best station in Dublin for music, John Caddell is a pleasure to listen to. My fear is that the people of Dublin’s musical tastes are probably too mainstream. Garth Brookes sold out 5 nights in Croke Park, so there is a possibility the station may need to go closer to Radio Nova to get the audience, sad but might be true.
As soon as communicorp took over it nose dived. They tried to change it… Such a good station. So sad that it’s ending.
TuneIn. Whole world of music out there.
Metal notes
I’m gonna miss Phantom.It’s radio so you’re at mercy of someone else’s tastes but i’ve discovered a lot of great contemporary music through Phantom,stuff that i would certainly have missed out on.
Preferred The Pirate Xfm now XfmDublin.com in its hey day. The 90s pirates were great. Xfm, Jazz Radio, Sunshine and Phantom.
What’s the bets Joe Donnelly will keep his job after the re-brand though?
Typical Jobs for the boys stuff that he is not one of the 20 DJs to go despite the fact that very few people rate him as a DJ on that station.
A poor fit for Phantom from day one of his appointment
How he is still kept on there while others who have been there far longer and are much better at what they do are given the bullet is a joke.
I perceive this to be typical cronyism & would be nice to get some clairifiaction as to why he was spared whilst the likes of the two Richies & Derek Byrne, Wil St Ledger etc get the boot
Him & Keith Walsh were appalling breakfast show DJs for a station like Phantom. A real low ebb for the place when they returned (I recall them not being much better back in the pirate days too)
Reading out crappy text messages from half wits and get into silly Facebook and Twitter spats with anyone who dared criticism them was truly painful stuff to contend with in the mornings. Sub Hector/ FM104 style ‘Bants’
Maybe this sort of stuff worked on Spin or iBallygobackwards radio in Athlone or wherever but it certainly didn’t on a niche alt music station like Phantom as the JNLR ratings would testify.
RIP Phantom & the very best of luck to all the other staff who will sadly lose their jobs come March.
Sadly Phantom has been creaking for a while, I think when they were based upstairs in Whelans it somehow came through in the music. As for a new name, before Phantom there was Spectrum…if only we could get back to that
continuing “to deliver an alternative music service for young Dubliners”.
if you live in dublin do you become a dubliner?? yikes
I used to listen to Phantom when it was pirate and after that when they got the licence. In recent years I stopped, as all they seemed to play anymore were the Foo Fighters (who I can’t stand) and the likes of. Now I listen online to Raidio na Life, the Irish language station for Dublin at 106.4. Their music programmes e.g. Neuromancer are eclectic and first-rate. Katie Kim – from Waterford? I heard her there first.
Spot on Ricoard- Radio na Life is great and has been since its inception over 20 years ago.
Time for Phantom to go back to piracy!
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