A judge has ruled that Volkswagen must face American investor claims over Dieselgate in the US. Ex-VW head Martin Winterkorn had hoped to have US lawsuits tried in Germany, a request thrown out by the California court.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
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American investors suing German carmaker Volkswagen will have the right to have their cases heard in a US court, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Volkswagen had requested to have an investor lawsuit in California dismissed, arguing that German courts were the proper place to handle cases relating to the Dieselgate emissions scandal.
However, in a 41-page ruling, US District Judge Charles Breyer denied the claims. The judge further rejected a request by VW brand chief Herbert Diess to have proposed securities fraud lawsuits also tossed out.
In his ruling, Breyer said that "because the United States has an interest in protecting domestic investors against securities fraud," the lawsuits should go ahead in an American court.
Investors suing VW are mainly US municipal pension funds that had invested in the carmaker through American Depositary Receipts, a form of equity ownership in non-US companies that represents the company's foreign shares.
The lawsuits assert that VW's market capitalization fell $63 billion (60 billion euros) after reports broke in September 2015 that the car giant had cheated on its emissions exhaust tests.
The lawsuits state that VW executives misled investors "assuring them to the contrary - namely, that the diesel vehicles met all applicable emissions standards" and it "understated the liabilities that it would suffer as a result of its known emissions non-compliance."
More US lawsuits await
Volkswagen has admitted that it used secret software in its cars to cheat emissions tests, conceding that some 11 million cars were affected and emitting up to 40 times the legal pollution levels. Almost 600,000 of those vehicles were sold in the US dating back to 2009.
VW has agreed to pay out as much as $17.5 billion in compensation in the US alone to resolve claims from owners, as well as some federal and state regulators.
However, the carmaker is also embroiled in a criminal investigation led by the US Department of Justice, which could lead VW to pay out billions of dollars more in settlement payments.
dm/cmk (Reuters, dpa, United State District Court - Northern District of California)
Dieselgate: A timeline
VW's emissions scandal plunged the automaker into its deepest crisis ever. It brought with it everlasting damage to VW's reputation and massive fees and penalties — not to mention compensation claims from car owners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
The disaster unfolds — September 2015
About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Spata
The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015
Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon
Raiding headquarters — October 2015
Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Hell breaks loose — January 2016
On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi
Quit or forced out? — March 2016
In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Settlement — October 2016
On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
Imitators — July 2017
When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kraufmann
Public still supportive — December 2017
Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Klose
Fuming over monkeys — January 2018
In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
Canadian court demands millions — January 2020
Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence."
