Hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs, one group: The model procedure between VW and consumer protection is completed by diesel comparison. Many customers accepted the offer. But the exhaust scandal does not end for the auto industry.
Wolfsburg / Braunschweig (dpa) - Immediately before the end of the extended acceptance period for the diesel comparison, the VW Group agreed on compensation payments with around 235,000 customers.
The Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers (vzbv) then withdrew its model declaratory action against the company, as vzbw board member Klaus Müller said on Thursday. "Never before have so many consumers been able to benefit in one fell swoop." The trial brought an "historic court case to an end," emphasized Müller.
According to VW, a total of around 750 million euros in payments in connection with the exhaust gas scandal will flow from May 5. "The aim of the comparison was to save tens of thousands of customers, Volkswagen and the judicial system from lengthy procedures," the company said.
The fact that around 90 percent of the more than 260,000 people entitled to settle in the agreement "clearly exceeds our expectations". Depending on the age and type of the vehicle, customers are to be compensated with amounts between 1350 and 6250 euros. About 17,000 cases were still under investigation on Thursday.
Volkswagen and vzbv had agreed on the diesel comparison at the beginning of the year. The agreement provides for consumers affected by the diesel affair to be compensated for the loss in value of their vehicles. Car owners who joined the model declaratory action and bought their car before April 31, 2015 and for whom German law applies, were able to get involved in the comparison, as explained by Jutta Gurkmann from vzbv.
While the claims of the participants in the model declaratory action are met with the diesel comparison, there are still tens of thousands of customers who are privately litigating against VW. For the first time, such an individual lawsuit will also be heard at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on Tuesday (May 5). A man from Rhineland-Palatinate reclaims the full purchase price of EUR 31,500 from Volkswagen for his used car bought in 2014. In the summer, further appointments for repayment claims due to manipulated diesel vehicles should follow at the BGH.
The late consequences of the diesel scandal are also currently being negotiated at the European Court of Justice (Case C-693/18). The responsible CJEU adviser took the view on Thursday that software used to reduce exhaust gas values in laboratory tests is a "shutdown device" - and is therefore prohibited under EU law. A judgment on this should follow in a few weeks.
Information from the vzbw on the diesel comparison
Press releases VW
