Volkswagen settles emissions cheating lawsuits

Volkswagen has agreed to settle several class action lawsuits in Australia relating to emissions cheating.

New Volkswagen cars on a car tower at the VW plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. Picture: EPA

Volkswagen said it has agreed to settle several class action lawsuits in Australia relating to emissions cheating, and that it was in advanced talks to resolve a separate civil case brought by the country’s competition regulator.

A spokesman for Volkswagen said the class action lawsuits, which related to around 100,000 vehicles with EA 189 engines sold in Australia, would likely conclude next year if the Federal Court approves the settlement terms.

Julian Schimmel, principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, one of the firms that brought the claim, said the final settlement would be in a range of $87 million to $127 million before accounting for legal costs.

“This is an important step in providing a measure of justice and redress to the thousands of Australian motorists who claim they were financially impacted by the diesel emissions issue,” said Mr Schimmel.

The emissions-cheating scandal first surfaced in 2015 when US authorities charged Volkswagen with violating environmental law. Since then the company has faced multiple investigations in many countries and paid more than $US25 billion in fines, penalties and compensation to settle criminal and civil litigation.

Volkswagen said it views the settlements in Australia as a further step toward overcoming the diesel issue, which affected some Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda branded vehicles locally. The company added that it expects to resolve a civil suit brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission shortly.

Dow Jones Newswires