Wednesday 14 July 2021
decision in the Netherlands
Court gives compensation to VW owners for damages
Like in Germany, vehicle owners in the Netherlands are suing Volkswagen for their use of cheat software – with success. A court has now awarded damages to owners of 150,000 cars. The company announced the appointment.
Volkswagen has been sentenced to compensate diesel customers in the Netherlands. A court in Amsterdam awarded buyers of new diesel cars whose emissions values had been manipulated by software, the right to 3,000 euros in compensation. Buyers of used diesel are to receive 1500 Euros each. A total of around 150,000 vehicles have been affected by the decision. The court upheld the collective action brought by the “Car Claims” association against the makers of VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat. The company announced an appeal against the decision.
A buyer can expect a car to comply with applicable regulations, the court ruled. If this is not the case then the cost of the car is also less. The automakers deliberately acted illegally by misleading the regulator and the buyers of the cars.
About six years ago, the group admitted that it had manipulated the emissions levels of diesel cars using software. On the test bench, it pretended that the vehicles were complying with the emission limits. In normal operation on the roads, however, cars emit many times more harmful nitrogen oxides. Repairs to the emissions scandal have cost Volkswagen more than 32 billion euros so far, mainly the payment of fines and compensation in the United States. Recently, carmakers in Italy were sentenced to compensation for more than 63,000 car customers, according to consumer advocates. There too, the company announced that it would appeal.
