Compensation: Diesel scandal: ECJ rejects Volkswagen Argumentation

Volkswagen has to take a further defeat in the defense against damages against damages from diesel buyers. The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) now ruled that the Wolfsburg -based company cannot rely on a so -called ban on the prohibition with regard to the use of shutdown devices for exhaust gas cleaning. This is available if someone does not know or misjudged that their behavior is prohibited and therefore illegal.

The background to the judgment of the highest EU court is a procedure at the Ravensburg District Court. According to the ECJ, two buyers of VW diesel vehicles require compensation because their cars have been equipped with presumably inadmissible shutdown devices for exhaust gas cleaning. These ensured that the exhaust gas recirculation was reduced from an outside temperature of ten degrees – with the result that the nitrogen oxide emissions rose.

Volkswagen argued with a type approval

In the procedure, VW stated that it had assumed the admissibility of the shutdown device and that this would also have been approved by the Federal Motor Transport Authority.

The ECJ now found: An automobile manufacturer cannot free itself from his liability for an inadmissible shutdown device, just because there is approval by the responsible national authority for the vehicle type or the facility itself.

The EC permit does not necessarily mean that the shutdown device is permitted. In addition, the Court of Justice made it clear that the manufacturer’s liability applies when the inadmissible shutdown device was installed in the manufacture of the vehicle, as well as if it was later installed.

The amount of the compensation may be limited

On the question of the amount of the compensation, the ECJ ruled that a recommendation from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is fundamentally not objectionable – however, it should be ensured that the compensation is appropriate to make up for the damage suffered.

The BGH had previously set a kind of discretion for the lower instance courts. This provides for a general compensation between 5 and 15 percent of the purchase price – without having to go into further detail in every negotiated case, for example, and that he has to switch on an expert, for example.

In addition, the ECJ stated that Union law is fundamentally compatible to deduct an amount from the compensation that corresponds to the advantage of using this vehicle.

Car companies reacted calmly

Volkswagen rated the importance of the judgment in a statement as low. How the BGH will implement the requirements into national law is not yet foreseeable, it said. Regardless of this, however, one assumes manageable effects for Volkswagen because only a few diesel lawsuits are pending in front of German courts.

The ECJ’s judgment on the diesel scandal was not the first. As early as 2023, the highest EU court had dealt with questions and reduced the hurdles for claims for damages by affected car buyers.

Background information of the ECJ