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Company reaches out of court settlement with thousands of drivers in England and Wales affected by the 'dieselgate' scandal
Volkswagen will pay £193m to 91,000 motorists in England and Wales after reaching an out of court settlement over the installation of ‘two-mode’ emissions-cheating software in its cars.
The VW Group is also making a separate contribution to the claimants’ legal costs and other fees.
Volkswagen has already paid out billions worldwide as a result of 2015’s ‘dieselgate’ scandal, where it was found to have installed emissions cheating software in millions of its cars.
“The Volkswagen Group would, once again, like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to their customers for the two mode software installed in the EA189 vehicles,” the company said.
“The Volkswagen Group will continue to work to rebuild the trust of their customers here in England and Wales. This settlement represents an important further stage in that process.”
The claims were brought on behalf of drivers by law firms Slater and Gordon, Leigh Day and PGMBM. VW said it is not participating in “the distribution or allocation” of the £193m.
Slater and Gordon CEO David Whitmore said: “Over the last five years, Slater and Gordon have rightly dedicated a significant and unwavering commitment to this case, providing an expert voice to around 70,000 claimants.
“The settlement avoids the need for a lengthy, complex and expensive trial process and we are delighted to have achieved this settlement for our customers as a result of the group action.”
Volkswagen AG’s chief legal officer Philip Haarman added: “The settlement is another important milestone as the Volkswagen Group continues to move beyond the deeply regrettable events leading up to September 2015.”
Dieselgate: the full timeline of events