Dieselgate: VW cheat device FIX “Replaced one cheat device with another” say lawyers: UPDATED

Lawyers suing Volkswagen over the Dieselgate emissions fixing scandal in the UK claim the ‘fix’ VW delivered is in fact another ‘cheat’ device.

Update: VW has been in touch to ask that we include a statement from them on this story, which you can find at the bottom of the page.

It’s five years since the Volkswagen Dieselgate emissions scandal broke, plunging VW in to a world of self-inflicted chaos and costing them more than £25 billion in fines and penalties so far.

It’s also seen VW turn from the greatest advocate of diesel engines to a born again EV evangelists, doing all it can to drive car buyers away from diesel and in to the growing range of ID electric cars.

But through all this upheaval, VW has claimed that the defeat devices it fitted were actually legal in the UK and Europe, and the ‘fix’ they installed to ‘correct’ the dodgy emissions was nothing more than a goodwill gesture.

But lawyers at Leigh Day and Slater and Gordon, who are leading the cheat device claim in the UK for 90,000 UK owners of VW, SEAT, Audi and Skodas, scored a significant win back in April when the High Court ruled that the original defeat device was illegal, with Mr Justice Waksman saying VW’s arguments that they were legal were “Hopeless” and “Highly Flawed”. 

Now, as the battle goes on, the lawyers have scored another major win as evidence from an Austrian case, which claims to show the ‘fix’ for the defeat device was nothing more than another defeat device which only gave the right levels of emissions between 15C and 32C – meaning that for much of the year in the UK the cars are still spewing out unlawful levels of NOx – have been given permission to include this evidence in the case.

Leigh Day solicitor Shazia Yamin said:

VW reassured customers they would provide a solution to fix these cars but all they appear to have  done is replace one problem with another – they have allegedly replaced one impermissible defeat device with another defeat device.
 
We argue that the fix that VW have applied actually does not work and does not bring them within EU emissions regulations. Now the court has allowed us to amend our pleadings because this is a very important issue – there is continuing impact on the environment and our clients are aggrieved.

The inclusion of the new evidence puts back the hearing of the case, scheduled for March 2022, to January 2023 to allow time for the evidence to be prepared.

Statement from VW Group:

“The Claimants are amending their claim against Volkswagen Group to allege that the thermal window is a prohibited defeat device. They still have to go on to successfully establish their claim and the amendment does not provide any indication that the claim will be successfully established. Adding an additional claim is a very low bar/hurdle to overcome.

 The thermal window was expressly notified to and specifically approved by the German regulator, the KBA. No regulatory authority has found the thermal window in EA189 engines, or indeed any other manufacturers’ vehicles, to be prohibited defeat devices. Volkswagen Group and the KBA deny any suggestion that the technical measures were not valid and accordingly the Volkswagen Group will contest this in court.

 The thermal window has been a standard feature in diesel, and indeed some petrol, cars of all manufacturers around the world to help to protect the engine from damage at certain temperatures or to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle.

 Customers should be assured that their vehicles are, and have always been, safe, roadworthy and legal to drive in the UK, whether or not they had the technical measures implemented.

 Volkswagen remains confident in our case that we are not liable to the claimants as alleged and the claimants did not suffer any loss at all.  We will continue to defend our position robustly.”