Our activists are protesting at VW forecourts across the UK, France and Germany, but we need your help to reach as many VW dealerships as possible. Volkswagen has so far solidly refused to stop lobbying against cuts to CO2 emissions and increases in car efficiency that we need to combat climate change.
Here's how you can help...
1) Find your local dealership. Enter your postcode here: http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/find-a-retailer click on your nearest dealership, and then the contacts and/or location tabs to find out the details (e.g. opening times).
2) Print a copy of the letter to the manager. You can download a copy here.
3) Personalise the letter. If at all possible please personalise this letter, and add in your own reasons why you think VW should change – be polite.
4) Visit the dealership. Take this letter to your local dealership, ideally by closing time on Sunday. Ask to speak to the manager, and if asked tell them you have heard about the Greenpeace campaign and you would like to find out what’s going on.
If the manager is unavailable then ask a member of staff to ensure he/she receives your letter. Perhaps address the letter to the manager by name.
If the manager is available, then either simply hand him / her your letter, or if you’d like to engage him in conversation then please use these key arguments, as well as your own personal reasons as to why you think VW should change.
- You’re upset that VW isn’t the company it pretends to be in its adverts, and instead of being an environmentally responsible car company, in reality VW is lobbying hard against key climate laws that would make all our cars cleaner and more efficient.
- You’re confused as to why VW’s own cars are nowhere near as clean as they could be. They’ve developed technology to make them use less fuel but their only putting that technology in a tiny number of their cars.
- That as a potential VW customer, you care about the environment more than most. VW is so big that it could change the global car industry if it used its size to roll out cleaner vehicles and push for clean energy laws instead of blocking them.
Please remain polite and non violent (in words as well as actions) at all times and if the manager / staff prove unhelpful then please simply leave the dealership.
If possible please take a picture of the dealership and/or ideally you handing over the letter. You might want to take a friend along to help make this work.
4) Tweet or share the details of your handover
If you don’t have a Twitter or Facebook account – don’t worry, simply:
- Add a comment, describing your conversation / handover, with the name of the dealership to the interactive map here: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/
- If you have a picture of the dealership or your handover then please email it to webteam.uk@greenpeace.org including the address of the dealership
If you are comfortable using Twitter then please:
- Under the settings section of your Twitter account, click the ‘add location to your tweets’ box
- Tweet a description of your conversation / handover using the hashtag #dasproblem
- Upload any pictures using the box in the bottom left of the tweet box
If you are comfortable using Twitter and have a smart phone, then please:
- Tweet your messages from outside the dealership, with the location attached, as above.
- You should be able to attach photos from your phone fairly easily - different programs use different methods
If you have any problems please post them as comments below, and we’ll try to help. If at all possible please visit your local dealership by closing time on Sunday.
6) Celebrate
After you’ve tweeted your messages, they should appear on the live interactive map. You’ve done a great job; your visit has added real value to the activities of the Greenpeace activists on Saturday morning, escalating the pressure Volkswagen and VW dealerships are feeling, and we hope forcing them to change.
So a big thank you from us, thank yourself and please take the time to celebrate your actions in a manner of your own choosing.
