VW feels the heat

Well VW have had a bad few days!  Last week our German colleagues hung a banner on VW HQ in Wolfsburg and a virtual banner drop on their Facebook page while our colleagues in London projected an image on the iconic Battersea power station and leafletted the eco car show.

Then on the weekend of 10th and 11th local groups visited VW dealerships around the country and our colleagues in Germany and France did the same thing.  All in all 64 dealerships were visited.  We hung banners over the VW totem pole ident in the garages and covered a car with a sheet displaying our dark side logo.  All in all there were 60 activists taking part and 5 from Nottingham went to Birmingham - see if you can recognise anyone in the picture above.  That is Richard in the storm trooper uniform.  I gave legal support to activists in Newcastle.  That is one hell of a wake up call to VW!  Unfortunately some of the dealerships were a bit rough with some of our activists but that is what happens when you are asked challenging questions and you can't answer them.  That is why they are calling HQ - they need to know the answers as sure as eggs is eggs the questions aren't going away.

Then on Sunday night a team from Nottingham and a team from Southwell visited local dealerships in West Bridgford, Daybrook, Loughborough and Newark, leaving leaflets on all the cars on display and a letter to the manager in each location.  40 towns around the country were visited.

This is sending a really strong message to the management of VW both directly and via their outlets that they must change the way they operate and for a start they can fit Blue motion to all their cars.  Blue motion is an engine management system that can increase fuel efficiency significantly so that carbon dioxide emissions are reduced, fuel efficiency is increased and, in the UK, road tax goes down as it is calculated on emission levels.  So it is a save save save situation for the motorist.  Unfortunately only the top of the range models have Blue motion and one of Greenpeace's asks is that Blue motion is available at no extra cost to all cars.