Volkswagen has agreed to redeem diesel vehicles geared up with illegal emissions control software after choosing not to appeal a German court judgment backing plaintiffs’ calls for compensation.
Customer agencies throughout Europe have been promoting compensation for Volkswagen drivers who bought diesel automobiles.
Regardless of the automaker’s admission of misconduct in the United States, it says it has not broken the law in Europe and sees no requirement to compensate European customers. The automaker has committed to repairing all affected vehicles by fall.
But first-instance judgments by the local courts of Arnsberg and Bayreuth published in Might which supported complainants’ calls for settlement have actually now ended up being legally binding after VW chose to waive an appeal, the plaintiffs’ legal representatives at Duesseldorf-based law office Rogert & Ulbrich said by email.
“In future the victims may have warranted hope that they will have the ability to enforce their claims in only one instance,” legal representative Marco Rogert stated.
VW soft-pedaled the significance of the ruling, saying its choice to forego an appeal was an exception and came from the low value of the automobiles in question.
The automaker does not anticipate the two judgments to have any bearing on other ongoing cases and, if required, will use its right to appeal unjustified consumer problems in future, it stated in email.
The law firm stated VW chose not to appeal three settlement court cases including a decision released in April by a local court in Wuppertal, whereas VW said its strategy only impacted the two cases at Arnsberg and Bayreuth.
