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Volkswagen Group faces huge compensation as a result of a class action brought by hundreds of thousands of car owners in Germany, and Volkswagen must pay a heavier price for the "emission gate" incident.

Earlier, hundreds of thousands of German Volkswagen owners filed a complaint with the court through the Consumer Association, initiating a class action against Volkswagen, accusing Volkswagen of manipulating diesel emissions tests and demanding financial compensation. Finally, on the recommendation of the German local court, the negotiations between the two sides made progress, and the Volkswagen Group was willing to pay compensation and settle with consumers.

Volkswagen recently announced that the settlement of its "diesel gate" class action in Germany has been basically completed, with more than 240000 lawsuits closed and more than 750 million euros (6 billion yuan) paid by Volkswagen, foreign media reported on July 3.

According to Volkswagen, in the settlement agreement, Volkswagen has reached an agreement with more than 90% of the plaintiffs entitled to claims in Germany. Volkswagen owners who accept the settlement will receive compensation ranging from 1350 euros to 6250 euros (about 10, 000 to 50, 000 yuan) depending on the age and model of the car.

It is worth noting that Volkswagen still faces tens of thousands of individual lawsuits in Germany, and these owners did not join the class action and chose to sue separately in Germany.

As a result, Volkswagen lost another 6 billion yuan under the continuous fermentation of the emission gate case. However, the emission gate is far from over, Volkswagen still faces relevant litigation, and it is also difficult to escape compensation from the laws of other countries.

In 2015, Volkswagen was exposed to the "emission door" scandal, and the company was found to have used cheating software to fake emissions tests on diesel vehicles. Over the past five years, Volkswagen has paid a total of 31.3 billion euros (248.7 billion yuan) in compensation, most of which are fines and compensation from the United States, while affected European consumers are still struggling to sue for their rights. Volkswagen has to pay for this.

Volkswagen emissions doors affect 11 million diesel vehicles around the world, including 8 million in Europe and 2.4 million in Germany alone. Volkswagen's fines and compensation in the United States are "the hardest". In 2016, almost all affected American car owners agreed to participate in Volkswagen's settlement plan. Volkswagen offered to buy back cars from hundreds of thousands of American car owners at a cost of $10 billion. And pay an additional $5000 to $10000 (RMB 35000-70,000) in compensation. In the United States, Volkswagen has paid more than $20 billion in criminal fines, civil fines and other legal settlements.

In 2020 alone, Volkswagen has received huge fines from many countries. In January, Canadian prosecutors approved a fine of about $150 million on Volkswagen. Regulators in Poland and Australia also imposed huge fines on Volkswagen. In addition, nearly 100000 car owners in the UK recently filed a class action against Volkswagen to hold Volkswagen responsible for "emissions cheating" and "misleading consumers". The class action will be the largest consumer lawsuit in British legal history.

Recently, the public emission gate incident has been investigated again. German prosecutors said they had further expanded the scope of the investigation into the diesel emissions scandal, which will involve parts supplier Continental, and will search multiple offices of Continental and Volkswagen.

For Volkswagen, the emission gate is an extremely destructive and long-lasting "nightmare". The carmaker is facing a number of lawsuits around the world and the expenses of paying fines, recalls and settlements have cost Volkswagen huge losses.

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