The Volkswagen Group will pay out £193 million to more than 90,000 UK motorists after reaching an out-of-court settlement for a seven-year litigation process relating to Dieselgate.
It's the latest payout in the wake of the scandal, which in the seven years since it broke has cost the Volkswagen Group some £26 billion in settlements, compensation, fines and buy-back schemes worldwide.
It stems from the identification of the so-called defeat devices in diesel-fuelled Volkswagen Group powertrains, which covered up the fact that they were emitting several times over the legal amount of nitrogen dioxide.
Some 11 million Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen vehicles were affected worldwide, including 1.2 million in the UK.
In the UK, 91,000 owners of the affected vehicles – equipped with the diesel-fuelled EA189 family of engines – were represented in their class action lawsuit by law firms Slater and Gordon, Leigh Day and PGMBM.
Having determined that "settlement was the most prudent course of action commercially", rather than continuing on to a six-month trial set to begin in January, the Volkswagen Group will now pay the claimants £193m while also contributing to their legal costs and other fees.
However, the company clarified: "No admissions in respect of liability, causation or loss have been made by any of the defendants in the group action as part of the settlement."
It also won't allocate the funds directly. Rather, they will be divided proportionally among claimants by the representing law firms.
It added: "The Volkswagen Group would once again like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to their customers for the two-mode software installed in the EA189 vehicles.
"The Volkswagen Group will continue to work to rebuild the trust of their customers here in England and Wales. This settlement represents an important further stage in that process."
Its chief legal officer, Philip Haarmann, said: "The Volkswagen Group is pleased that we've been able to conclude this long-running litigation in England and Wales.
"The settlement is another important milestone as the Volkswagen Group continues to move beyond the deeply regrettable events leading up to September 2015."
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It also won't allocate the funds directly. Rather, they will be divided proportionally among claimants by the representing law firms.
Lawyers laughing all the way to the bank. Of course Autocar has not mentioned the most crucial piece of information, namely:
they claimed they had been misled by VW about the sustainability ratings of their cars ( taken from varios other media reports ).
Not a single person I know, incuding me, bought a VW deisel or any diesel on that matter based on it's environmental credentials. We bought our cars based on 1. more mpg than petrol 2. lower VED rates and for the early adopters of derv like myself, the fact that diesel was cheaper than petrol. Nitroxide? Hardly anyone in the UK had heard of Nox gases. The manufacturer specifications you see in car brochures or online? The re was no mention of Nox gases.
As I say, lawyers laughing all the way to the bank. And given they're distributing the funds to their clients, wonder how much of a percentage they're taking?
VW stupid to use cheat devices but even more stupid giving in to ambulance chasers.
@scotty5
"Ambulance Chasers" wouldn't exist if people didn't do anything wrong. Like you, I bought a VW group car with a Diesel engine and it wasn't because of its environmental credentials. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that VW lied to us, and sold us something that wasn't what it was claimed to be. They deserve to pay, and I hope I am among the fortunate ones who benefit from this.
Maybe you are happy being lied to. Maybe you like dealing with dishonest companies. Me? Not so much.