Der Abgasskandal geht in die zweite Runde!

ARD reports on new clues in the VW diesel scandal.

After doubts about Volkswagen's honesty with regard to the use of a defeat device for the engine with the internal designation EA288 also increased in the courts, the ARD also reported again in a report in the magazine Report on December 1, 2020 about defeat devices to comply with the emission limits for this engine.

Internal documents from the company have come to light which clearly show that, at least until mid-2016, software for manipulating exhaust emissions on the test bench was also installed in this engine.

The EA288 is the successor engine of the scandal engine EA189 – the fraud engine that emissions scandal The EA288, like the EA189, is used in numerous models across the entire Volkswagen Group. It is available in the emission classes Euro5, Euro 6 and Euro 6d-temp.

The case law on EA288 has also changed recently. While initially the lawsuits were mostly dismissed by the regional courts due to a lack of a recall notice, more and more courts have now granted the lawsuits.

For example, LG Düsseldorf AZ 11 O 190/18, LG Offenburg AZ 3 O 38/18, LG Regensburg AZ 73 O 1181/19, LG Munich I AZ 3 O 13321/19, LG Duisburg AZ 1 O 1181/19 , LG Heilbronn 6 O 257/19; LG Darmstadt Az 13 O 88/20, LG Potsdam Az 11 O 167/20, LG Munich II Az 3 O 13321/19.

In the second instance, Volkswagen is also facing colder weather.

The Higher Regional Courts of Celle and Oldenburg did not accept Volkswagen AG's feeble arguments and issued orders for evidence that promise to shed light on the matter.

In a case we conducted, the 7th Senate of the Celle Higher Regional Court ordered in a notice and evidence decision dated July 14, 2020 (case no. 7 U 532/18) that the Federal Motor Transport Authority must disclose whether Volkswagen had fully and truthfully presented all facts regarding the software used.

If this is not the case and VW has concealed the use of whatever defeat device, then the approval process would have been unlawful and the vehicles in question should neither have been registered nor sold.

TV report: REPORT MAINZ – New clues in the VW diesel scandal

The Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg also issued a order for evidence (Ref. 8 U 188/19) and would like to have an expert clarify whether "in the EA288 engines, the effectiveness of emissions control systems is reduced by the fact that the NEDC test cycle is recognized based on the installed software with the help of physical boundary conditions - the driving curves, the steering angle detection and the time recording - and then corresponding "exhaust gas aftertreatment events" are "placed". In other words, whether manipulative software is also at work here, which helps to comply with the limit values on the test bench.

In both orders for evidence, the Senates rely on the VW-internal “Decision template on the EA288”, which we have introduced in all EA288 proceedings and which shows how exhaust emissions are influenced by the detection of driving cycles.

If you read these documents carefully, it quickly becomes clear that VW has also developed a strategy for complying with emissions limits for the successor engine – albeit exclusively on the test bench.

Information from VW should be treated with great caution.

Offenburg has recognized that VW's statements should be treated with great caution. In a ruling, the VW Group was expressly reminded of its duty to tell the truth:

"In this context, it should be added that there is also concrete evidence that the defendant (VW) did not have the clear conscience it recently claimed regarding the test bench recognition...in the trial, it did not initially admit the test bench recognition, but described it as generally incorrect...in addition, the defendant (VW) denied the explicit question of whether a switching logic was installed in the vehicle. The test bench recognition was only admitted after an explicit written request from the court, whereby the further question of whether any changes were made to normal operation following the test bench recognition was initially answered falsely with a "no."

The judgment of the Darmstadt Regional Court speaks a clear language.

The judgment we won, which was discussed in the TV report, speaks a similar language. The Darmstadt Regional Court completely followed our argument in this case and Volkswagen AG must now take back the Skoda Octavia 2.0l in return for a payment of 20,770 euros. The plaintiff had bought the car new for 24,230 euros in 2017.

In its reasoning for the verdict, the court assumed that the engines from the new EA288 series were equipped with illegal software. This was also programmed in such a way that the exhaust gas recirculation was controlled in two different operating modes.

The emissions scandal goes into the second round!