■ SHAME OF THE VW EMISSION TEST CHEATS
VOLKSWAGEN broke the law by installing so-called defeat devices in its cars to cheat emission tests, the EU’s top court has ruled – rejecting claims that the company was just trying to protect engines.
The German giant has admitted fitting 11million vehicles worldwide with the devices that temporarily reduced nitrogen oxide fumes while they were on test machines in a scandal dubbed Dieselgate.
It claimed that the software could be justified because it helps to protect the engine over time.
But the European Court of Justice has said, for such an argument to be used, the devices would have to ‘allow the engine to be protected against sudden and exceptional damage’.
It added: ‘A manufacturer cannot install a defeat device which systematically improves, during approval procedures, the performance of the vehicle emission control system.’
The ruling is likely to help owners
across the EU who are looking to sue VW on the grounds that they were misled, or that the value of their vehicle suffered because of the ruling.
It may also lay other car-makers open to lawsuits – as devices that lower pollution controls, to protect components in cold weather, are common in the industry.
Since it emerged in the US in 2015, Dieselgate has cost VW £26.8billion and led to the recall of millions of vehicles.
UK courts have already ruled that the company used a defeat device, paving the way for 91,000 customers to bring a class action against the company.