Volkswagen’s £193m dieselgate settlement

VOLKSWAGEN Group has ended a UK dieselgate litigation, comprised of over 70,000 claimants, with the payment of a £193m out of court settlement.

Launched in January 2017 and due to head to court early next year, the case alleged that the OEM breached automotive emissions regulations by fitting affected vehicles with unlawful ‘defeat devices’, said to reduce NOx emissions under certain test conditions.

Coming two years after High Court Judge Mr Justice Waksman concluded that the Volkswagen Group did install illegal emissions defeat devices VW’s out-of-court settlement has brought an end to the case without making the car manufacturing giant have to make admissions in respect of liability, causation or loss.

Volkswagen Group said: “In Volkswagen’s view, the legal costs of litigating this case to a six-month trial in England, and then in relation to any further appeals by either party, were such that settlement was the most prudent course of action commercially.”