The Dutch district court has ruled that owners of Volkswagen cars with software that enabled emission test fraud were entitled to compensation. Buyers of new Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Škoda cars with installed software are to receive 3,000 euros (more than 77,000 crowns) and owners of used cars 1,500 euros. Volkswagen can appeal against the court’s decision, Reuters reported.
According to the court, the compensation covers approximately 150,000 cars. In 2015, Volkswagen admitted that it had installed software to manipulate emissions tests in about 11 million diesel cars worldwide. During the tests, the car’s emissions showed much lower values than was actually the case. The scandal, nicknamed the diesel gate, has already cost the carmaker more than 32 billion euros (822 billion crowns). The amount includes fines, corrections and court costs.
The owners of the group’s cars in the Czech Republic have also filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen, but the local courts have not yet ruled on compensation. Thousands of people joined the dispute with the Volkswagen Group, claiming a total of about 1.5 billion crowns, according to available information. Approximately 165,000 affected vehicles were sold in the Czech Republic.
The dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015, when German Volkswagen admitted that it had installed software in 11 million cars that falsified exhaust emissions during testing. Many other carmakers, from Daimler to Fiat Chrysler to French Renault, Opel’s Opel brand and even the Bosch supplier, found themselves in the search for investigators.