Volkswagen has agreed to pay £ 193 million to resolve 91,000 legal claims in England and Wales related to the “dieselgate” emissions scandal that shook the German carmaker.
Plaintiffs will receive average payments of more than £ 2,100 each after joining the lawsuit alleging that cars allegedly manufactured by the Volkswagen Group, including its Audi, Seat and Skoda brands, emitted more nitrogen dioxide than stated the company. The London High Court dismissed the proceedings on Wednesday following the agreement.
The carmaker will also pay an amount that is believed to be tens of millions of pounds to cover the plaintiffs’ legal costs, as well as other fees that are believed to include the costs charged by investors who supported the legal actions.
The dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015 after it was discovered that Volkswagen had installed illegal “defeat devices” to deceive emissions testing. It has become one of the most costly corporate scandals in history. The company has spent more than € 30 billion (£ 26 billion) on legal fees and customer payments, including a $ 15 billion (£ 12 billion) deal in the US. A trial for fraud against former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn has been delayed due to ill health.
Volkswagen did not admit any crime as part of the deal. In a press release, he said the deal was the “commercially prudent course of action” to avoid the legal cost of a six-month trial and possible appeals. The company believes it has been too long since the scandal erupted in 2015 for other landlords to file claims, although there are two other British claims in the early stages of litigation.
A number of other carmakers are facing similar claims in the UK, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Stellantis, Nissan, Renault, Ford and Volvo. It is believed that the total number of plaintiffs in the country far exceeds one million.
Philip Haarmann, VW’s legal director, said: “The Volkswagen Group is pleased to have been able to conclude this lengthy dispute in England and Wales. The agreement is another important milestone as the Volkswagen Group continues to move forward. of the deeply unfortunate events that led to September 2015 “.
Volkswagen has already paid billions in dieselgate-related deals worldwide, but it has taken longer in England and Wales due to a different system that does not allow for “collective action” in the UK. U.S.-style, under which lawyers can take action. on behalf of a whole group of plaintiffs without the need for their explicit approval.
Instead, the law firms involved must devote time and money to finding plaintiffs and persuading them to register. The companies involved were Slater and Gordon, Leigh Day and PGMBM.
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Tony Winterburn, a PGMBM partner, said: “This is a good day for the plaintiffs and is the culmination of five years of hard-fought litigation.”
Shazia Yamin, a partner at Leigh Day, said: “The resolution of this case is important because it was the first case to start and the first to be resolved. It is a great time for consumers.
“It’s a very important milestone that when consumers adhere to these claims there may be something in the end.”