German state of Bavaria to sue VW over emissions scandal

[August 02, 2016]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's state of Bavaria will sue Volkswagen for damages caused by the diesel emissions scandal, the state's finance ministry said on Tuesday, adding to the carmaker's litigation risks.

A Volkswagen Golf car is loaded in a delivery tower at the plant of German carmaker in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
 

Bavaria's state pension fund for civil servants lost as much as $783,580.00 after Volkswagen (VW) shares plunged in the wake of the Sept. 18 announcement of the carmaker's manipulations by U.S. regulators, a spokeswoman at the ministry said.

Bavaria, home to German blue-chip companies including BMW, Siemens and Allianz, would be the first of Germany's 16 federal states to take legal action against VW over the scandal.

Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), which reported the lawsuit earlier on Tuesday, said the state-owned pension fund will file its suit against VW in September at the regional court of Braunschweig near VW's Wolfsburg headquarters.

VW declined comment.

(Reporting by Joern Poltz,; Writing by Andreas Cremer,; Editing by Tina Bellon)

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