Tens of thousands of Germans driving a Volkswagen diesel car have the right to return their car

Volkswagen then has to give them money back

This is the result of a ruling of the German Supreme Court https://nos.nl/l/2335017 

The case was brought by the owner of a Volkswagen Sharan

He had bought his diesel car in 2014, but says he would never have done so if he had known how polluting his car is

Volkswagen fiddled with the figures by using manipulated software

VW diesels turn out to be much more polluting than the company reported

All kinds of lawsuits and damages have meanwhile cost Volkswagen a fortune

The owner of the VW Sharan had also been vindicated by a lower court but that court ruled that Volkswagen did not have to pay back the entire purchase price

The man appealed against this as did Volkswagen

The car manufacturer maintains that the man is not entitled to a refund of the purchase price at all because he drove a good car for many years and did not suffer any damage

But the Supreme Court finds that the owner of the Sharan has been misled

However the court in Karlsruhe has ruled that the man is not entitled to a full refund of the purchase price; the kilometres driven may be settled by Volkswagen

This ruling has far-reaching consequences for other lawsuits pending in Germany

Tens of thousands of owners of a Volkswagen diesel can now claim a refund of part of the purchase price

And in their case too Volkswagen is obliged to take the car back

There are also more than 200,000 diesel drivers in Germany who have settled with Volkswagen in recent years for a lower amount

Those arrangements are final and therefore those owners are not entitled to higher compensation

According to Femke Hendriks of the Diesel Emissions Justice foundation who started a claim for damages through the Dutch courts on behalf of a large group of victims in March, the consequences of this ruling could be major

"Volkswagen's liability has been established for some time, it is now only a question of the type of compensation that owners can claim”

“In addition to 'ordinary' financial compensation for the depreciation of the car, for example also being able to return the car with a refund of the purchase price, possibly with a deduction for operating costs"

According to Hendriks, this statement makes it more and more likely that Volkswagen will eventually have to pay high amounts of money to many people

“The net is closing in on Volkswagen. We don't understand why they continue to put their heels in the sand”

“Last month Volkswagen also got a tap on the fingers from a high court in England in fierce words. This ruling in Germany sets another precedent, because the underlying legislation is similar in all countries of the European Union"