Almost nine years after the explosion of “Dieselgate”, the global scandal centered on the Volkswagen group and the illegal software that falsified data on environmental emissions, Altroconsumo and the German car manufacturer have reached an agreement. The class action, launched by the association in Italy, had seen over 60 thousand consumers join, the same ones who between 2009 and 2015 had purchased one of the vehicles with the Volkswagen, Audi, Koda and Seat brands equipped with the finished Ea189 Euro 5 diesel engine in the storm.
Volkswagen Group, as the parent company, and Volkswagen Group Italia, whose headquarters are in Verona, have undertaken to recognize, for those who accept the settlement offer, the payment of 1,100 euros for each vehicle purchased new and not resold before 26 September 2015, the date on which the case became public knowledge. The sum of 550 euros was instead defined for each vehicle purchased used or resold before the fateful date. In the case of co-owners of the same car, the total amount is increased by 300 euros for each co-owner admitted beyond the first. In total, Volkswagen Group and Volkswagen Group Italia put 50 million on the table to close the matter. In all these years, on a global level – between fines, reparations and legal expenses – the German giant has had to pay out over 32 billion. «Dieselgate» represented a very strong setback for the group, both in terms of image and in terms of the compensation which, after some time, it must continue to face. For the Germans, many legal battles have dragged on all these years over the scandal of rigged emissions, which emerged in September 2015 in the United States, and which then spread like wildfire. «In the coming weeks – clarifies a note from Altroconsumo – the technical and operational methods with which those entitled to the agreement will be able to join the agreement and start the payment procedures according to the various cases envisaged will be defined in detail. For this purpose, starting from next December, Altroconsumo will specifically set up an online platform for the correct and safe management of complex operations”.
The parties involved have also agreed not to appeal to the Court of Cassation regarding the sentence of the Court of Appeal of Venice issued last December. The amount of compensation, which the Court of First Instance of the lagoon city had quantified at 3,300 euros for the financial damage suffered by each member, was then drastically reduced, precisely in 2023, by the subsequent appeal ruling: 300 euros for the moral damage.
At this point, yesterday’s agreement prevented the appellants from adding insult to injury.
