Damage claims of five to 15 percent of the purchase price are likely to be the lower limit – VW is confident it will emerge victorious at the end of the legal dispute.
A recent ruling by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) also gives new impetus to the Austrian victims’ diesel lawsuits. Consequently, consumers are also entitled to compensation if illegal – but officially approved – thermal glazing devices are fitted to their vehicles.
In principle, buyers of affected cars are entitled to compensation of five to 15 percent of the purchase price, the BGH ruled on Monday. For this, the opinion of an expert is not necessary. For the Volkswagen Group, however, the matter is not over yet.
What the BGH ruling means for cases where expert reports certify major damages remains open at least for now. Linz attorney Michael Poduschka considers the range of five to 15 percent of the purchase price specified by the BGH likely to represent a lower bound. If there is an expert report that determines greater damage at the time of purchase of the car, this must be taken into account when assessing the compensation.
There are already more than ten class actions
“The BGH decision is sensational because, for the first time in Central Europe, a national supreme court has awarded damages to prevent perpetrators from violating European protection laws,” Poduschka said in an interview with APA. “In times of industrialized fraud, this is to be expected.” In the diesel scandal, Poduschka is handling around 1,000 individual cases against Volkswagen and VW dealerships and also represents the Consumer Information Association in over ten class actions involving around 10,000 victims.
Peter Kolba, chief attorney at the consumer protection association (VSV), sees new momentum in diesel lawsuits following the BGH decision. Likewise, owners of vehicles with VW EA 288 and Daimler engines can now participate free of charge in collection campaigns by the consumer protection association in Germany, announced the VSV.
Confident VW and Audi
VW and the group subsidiary Audi told the APA that the BGH had not made any determination as to whether there was a claim for reimbursement of any reduced amount. The appellate courts must now clarify whether this allegation exists. In the opinion of Volkswagen and Audi, the damage claim requirements are not met in either case and therefore the lawsuits must be dismissed. Volkswagen and Audi would presume that the appellate courts would reject a claim for a reduction in value.
As announced yesterday, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled that car manufacturers must always pay compensation for diesel cars with thermal window technology, if doing so adequately cleans the exhaust gases of pollutants in a very small temperature range. The BGH thus overturned judgments of German courts that had rejected claims for damages and returned them. Judge Eva Menges said the appellate courts would have to further clarify the issue of liability. (APA)