Scots drivers sue VW for £100 mover firm’s ‘diesel gate scandal’
8,000 take action after emissions test cheating
DRIVERS in Scotland have launched a £100 million legal action against Volkswagen, claiming they were mis-sold eco-friendly cars.
In the biggest case of its kind ever seen in the Scottish courts, thousands of motorists are demanding compensation after unwittingly buying vehicles with a device that cheated during emissions tests.
Millions of cars made by Germany’s Volkswagen Group, which also manufactures the Audi, Seat and Skoda marques, were fitted with a ‘defeat device’.
Software was designed to detect when an official emissions test was being carried out – and then reduce the levels of emissions produced.
When the car was actually being driven, emissions were far higher.
Volkswagen promoted a ‘cleandiesel’ image and charged a premium price for the ‘eco-friendly’ vehicles. Since the ‘diesel-gate’ scandal was first exposed in the US in 2015, billions of pounds have been paid to customers worldwide.
Legislation was passed in Scotland last year allowing group actions to be taken against big corporations – and now more than 8,000 drivers have begun legal proceedings against Volkswagen at Scotland’s highest court.
Lawyers from the five legal firms representing customers appeared at the Court of Session last month, with Volkswagen’s legal team.
One solicitor revealed drivers will be seeking around £100 million. A judge will decide at the next hearing in March if the case can proceed.
Dr Mauvis Gore, 68, is one of the drivers suing for compensation. Last night, she said: ‘My husband and I are biologists so we are very interested in low emissions.
‘We bought our Golf and paid £17,000, several thousand more for low emissions, only to find out when the scandal broke that that wasn’t the case.’ Dr Gore and her husband, Professor Rupert Ormond, relocated from near Edinburgh to Mull partly because of the scandal, moving ‘to a place we don’t need a car very much’.
She said: ‘We are really angry – it is the deception, and not being the car that we thought we bought. They just lied, you can’t do that.
This is a big corporation selling something that is a big purchase in your life. We want redress and some justice and to hold them to account for what they’ve done.’
Dr George Reeves, 71, of Caithness, is part of the group action. His Skoda Fabia’s engine failed and his car was later scrapped. The retired consultant hydrologist paid £14,000 for the new car in 2012. He said it had a software update in 2018 by the manufacturer but in August 2019 his engine failed and the car was never fixed.
He claimed Skoda denied all responsibility, adding: ‘I will never buy a Volkswagen, Audi or Skoda again. The whole engine was destroyed and vehicle scrapped with no sympathy or understanding and certainly no compensation or consideration. I still owe money for that car and no real means of repaying it.’ Stuart Cochran, leading the litigation for legal firm Slater and Gordon, said: ‘Raising thousands of individual actions is prohibitively expensive, so being able to do it as a group is sensible and gives clients easier access to justice, which is the purpose behind the group bill in the first place.
‘We anticipate a battle, but it’s a battle we’re happy to have.
‘We’re determined to secure compensation and redress.’
Volkswagen Group said there was ‘no legal basis for these claims’, adding: ‘Scottish customers have not suffered any loss or damage as a result of the NOx [nitrogen oxide] issue and are therefore not entitled to compensation. Volkswagen Group will robustly defend itself against any litigation.’
Last month the European Court of Justice ruled Volkswagen broke the law by installing defeat devices, and cannot argue that it was merely protecting the cars’ engines.
Volkswagen has paid out 30 billion euros (£26.8 billion) in fines and civil settlements, and millions of its vehicles have been recalled.
‘It’s the deception... they lied, you can’t do that’
‘Volkswagen Group will robustly defend itself’