Volkswagen to appeal class action over scandal by Italian court

Volkswagen said on Thursday it would be appealing against a decision by an Italian court ordering the automaker to refund consumers participating in a class action lawsuit over the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

Italian consumer group Altroconsumo said a court has ordered the automaker to pay 3,300 euros ($3,907), plus interest, to each of the 63,000 consumers who participated in the class action, for an overall amount of over 200 million euros ($236 million).

Altroconsumo said Volkswagen was found liable for an unfair commercial practice after setting up banned software on EA189 engines in order to decrease NOx emissions during tests.

A representative for Volkswagen said the automaker considered Altroconsumo’s class action inadmissible and that its allegations were baseless.

Altroconsumo started the legal action in question against Volkswagen in 2017.