Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer, agreed to pay 193 Million Pounds (s226 Mio. Euros) Wednesday May 25, to compensate 91,000 British motorists who were injured by the engine scandal.
The Volkswagen group and the plaintiffs reached today an amicable settlement in this case, the manufacturer announced through a press release. British justice had previously ruled in favor of motorists two years ago, but they did not agree. The compensation has not been formally announced.
This settlement “resolves approximately 91,000 claims against Volkswagen Group entities, dealers and other parties in the class action lawsuit in England & Wales”.
The automobile group stipulates that it will contribute to the legal and other costs of the plaintiffs in addition to the sum announced.
The cheating discovered by the German giant at end 2015 affected approximately 1.2 million Volkswagen, Audi and Seat brand vehicles in the United Kingdom. This is in addition to the eleven million diesel cars worldwide.
In April 2020, the High Court of London ruled that Volkswagen had in fact used “cheating software” to cheat EU rules on cars sold in the UK. This was in violation of emissions testing regulations. Volkswagen felt that the matter was continuing, that plaintiffs had not suffered any loss and that it should compensate them.
Volkswagen stated in its statement that Wednesday’s announcement did not constitute “an admission of liability or causation of loss” by the plaintiffs. The manufacturer said that the legal costs he faced in this case, as well as possible appeal proceedings, were “such that an amicable resolution was the best course of action.”
According to Philip Haarmann (VW’s chief legal officer), the agreement is “another important step” that will allow Volkswagen Group to continue to move forward following the “deeply regrettable events”.
Dieselgate, which led to legal action in many nations, has already cost Volkswagen over 30 billion euro, mainly in the United States, where the German group pleaded guilty in 2017 to fraud.
