More than 5,000 Volkswagen cars are sitting at Port Tampa Bay, as a worldwide recall is taking place because of a cheating emissions scandal.
If you take a quick glance from Causeway Boulevard near 22nd Street you'll see what looks like a car sales lot for VW, but really its open storage for the mass inventory of recalled cars.
Port Tampa Bay tells us they are acting as a landlord, and renting out the space to a third party that's working with Volkswagen.
The short-lengthed contract is adding extra revenue that the port wasn't counting on this fiscal year.
In all, around $700,000.
Port Tampa Bay isn't the only port around the country used for storage, VW is also parking cars at old military bases, old stadiums and an international raceway.
VW says they're routinely maintaining the cars and at some point they could get approval to modify them.
If this happens, some of the cars could be resold in the U.S. with full disclosure for the buyers.
As for Port Tampa Bay, this is an opportunity to show auto makers and dealers the potential they have in the car trade industry because of the open space and prime location for import and export both domestic and foreign.
