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Consumer agencies across Europe have been pushing for
compensation for Volkswagen (VW) drivers who bought diesel cars
on the strength of their green credentials.
Despite VW's admission of wrongdoing in the United States, it
says it has not broken the law in Europe and sees no need to
compensate European consumers. The carmaker has committed to
fixing all affected vehicles by autumn.
But first-instance rulings by the regional courts of Arnsberg
and Bayreuth published in May which upheld plaintiffs' calls for
compensation have now become legally binding after VW decided to
waive an appeal, the plaintiffs' lawyers at Duesseldorf-based
law firm Rogert & Ulbrich said by email.
"In future the injured parties may have justified hope that they
will be able to enforce their claims in only one instance,"
lawyer Marco Rogert said.
VW played down the significance of the ruling, saying its
decision to forego an appeal was an exception and stemmed from
the low value of the vehicles in question.
The carmaker does not expect the two rulings to have any bearing
on other ongoing cases and, if necessary, will use its right to
appeal unjustified customer complaints in future, it said in
emailed comments.
The law firm said VW decided not to appeal three compensation
court cases including a verdict published in April by a regional
court in Wuppertal, whereas VW said its course of action only
affected the two cases at Arnsberg and Bayreuth.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; editing by Jason Neely)
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