Volkswagen Australia ‘dieselgate’ class action settles

The Volkswagen Group has settled five major class actions in Australia relating to its global ‘dieselgate’ fiasco.

Volkswagen and its ancillaries Audi, Skoda and Porsche have completed a confidential settlement that will reportedly see the car-maker payout between $A87 million and $A127.1 million over allegations the group fitted illegal devices to diesel vehicles designed to cheat emissions tests.

The settlement, which is still to be rubber stamped by the Federal Court, would see affected customers awarded about $1400 per vehicle, Volkswagen Australia confirmed to carsales.com.au.

“Volkswagen Group has reached a comprehensive in-principle settlement with the class action plaintiffs in Australia,” the car-maker said. “This is a significant step towards fully resolving the diesel lawsuits in Australia, subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia.  Volkswagen views the in-principle settlements as a further step towards overcoming the diesel issue.

“The class action lawsuits filed on behalf of Australian customers relate to approximately 100,000 Australian EA189 vehicles.  If all affected vehicles participate, each of these customers can expect a payment per vehicle of approximately $A1400 (about EUR 870), on average.

“The settlement, on a no-admissions basis, concerns five class-action lawsuits covering all affected vehicles in Australia.  The settlement has to be confirmed by the Federal Court of Australia and a timetable has been set by the Court for the necessary steps to occur.  Volkswagen expects the proceedings will be concluded in 2020.”

About 100,000 Australians have been swept up in the dieselgate furore, in which firmware installed in vehicles’ engine management systems between the years of 2008 and 2015 could detect a test situation – with the vehicle on a rolling-road dynamometer used to record emissions.

In that situation, the vehicles would run in a special operating mode to lower Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions below the ceiling figure mandated by the US EPA (Environment Protection Agency).

Outside the laboratory, the firmware would switch operating parameters back to a ‘street’ mode to optimise performance and fuel economy. In this mode, the resulting NOx emissions would be substantially higher than permitted by local law.

The engine code for vehicles sold in Australia with the defeat device firmware installed is EA189. This engine was fitted to a host of vehicles sold between the years of 2009 and 2015.

These vehicles include the Volkswagen Golf, Polo, Jetta, Passat CC from 2008 (and the later CC model from 2011), Passat, Eos, Tiguan, Caddy, Amarok, plus Porsche’s Cayenne, Audi’s A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, Q3, Q5 and TT, and Skoda models including Octavia, Yeti and Superb.