The Simon Wiesenthal Center has demanded German car giant Volkswagen to drop concession of a dealership in Mexico after it displayed Nazi symbols on its facilities.
The dealership is located in the city of Coyoacán.
In a letter to Steffen Reiche, President of the Executive Council of Volkswagen México, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre demanded ‘’immediate action.’’
The letter signed by Shimon Samuels and Ariel Gelblung, Directors for International Relations and for Latin America respectively, stated: “On behalf of our more than 400,000 members worldwide, we demand that, as a German company you enforce the law that prohibits the exhibition of Nazi symbols. We expect you to immediately identify those responsible and publicly announce the action you will take. The most appropriate would be to drop the concession completely, in order to pass a clear message to your customers that you have learned from your history. Volkswgen, the ‘Peoples Car’, was a Nazi concept. German cars in Mexico are unacceptable if they come with the swastika.”
On Monday, German Volkswagen apologized and said that the image did not correspond to its “corporate image.”
“We have a history that we have learned from,” the company said on its Mexican Twitter feed. “We value respect, fairness, inclusion and freedom. We do not tolerate manifestations of hatred and discrimination. The images do not correspond to our corporate image or that of the distributors. We will take action,” the group said.