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Volkswagen in talks to settle German 'dieselgate' mass lawsuit

05:17 PM Jan 02, 2020 | PTI |

Frankfurt Am Main: Car giant Volkswagen said Thursday it would open talks on a possible settlement in a mass lawsuit brought by hundreds of thousands of German diesel car owners over emissions cheating.

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“Volkswagen and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV) have agreed to enter into discussions regarding a possible settlement,” the company said in a statement.

Both VW and the VZBV said while “discussions are at a very early stage, and there is no guarantee” of a settlement, they hoped to find a “pragmatic solution for the benefit of the customer”.

Around 400,000 diesel owners have joined a mass lawsuit against Volkswagen over the group’s 2011 admission to emissions cheating affecting 11 million vehicles worldwide.

VW and subsidiaries built so-called “defeat devices” into engine control software, designed to make them appear less polluting in the lab than in real driving conditions.

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The fallout from the so-called “dieselgate” fraud has cost the company over 30 billion euros ($33.6 billion).

Most of that has gone in fines, buybacks and compensation payouts in the United State, with much milder consequences in Europe and VW’s home market Germany.

Even with a new form of a mass lawsuit introduced in response to the crisis, the slow court process means German diesel drivers faced years of waiting and uncertainty over whether they would ever be compensated.

A settlement offer would be valid if accepted by at least 70 percent of the plaintiffs, the VZBV said on its website.

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