Another court, the Bielefeld Regional Court, has now ordered the VW Group to pay damages in a case we have brought. Our client was found to be right and can now drive his car, which he bought in August 2016 for €17,700 and with 9,800 km on the clock. Volkswagen Golf VII 1.6l for € 15.971,23,- to Volkswagen AG.
Invalid driving curve detection for test bench detection
In its ruling, the court assumes that the vehicle was purchased via a so-called “curve detection“
Volkswagen did not deny that this function enables the vehicle to recognize whether it is on the test bench. The vehicle also switches between two operating modes. As a result of the switching, pollutant emissions are many times higher during normal operation on the road than on the test bench. The driving curve detection is used to comply with the required values on the test bench. This is clear from an internal document from Volkswagen AG called "Application guidelines and approval specifications EA 288" submitted by the plaintiff. The court rejected the car manufacturer's argument that this function is only used to ensure that the measurement results are not falsified and that it is not needed to comply with the limit values.
It is also irrelevant whether exceeding the limit values in normal operation would have had an impact on the vehicle's ability to obtain approval. What is more important is that the driving curve detection only has the function of controlling the NSK (NOx storage catalyst) differently and thus induces a certain behavior of the vehicle only for the purpose of obtaining approval.
VW's statements that this function is not required to comply with the limit values are therefore not understandable. Rather, the court assumes that a different NSK control will definitely have an impact on the engine and its environmental influences. The court rightly asked itself why Volkswagen would otherwise have developed and implemented this function.
Increasingly good prospects of success for affected vehicle owners
Another ruling that clearly shows: Proceedings against Volkswagen AG, which concern the group's EA288 diesel engine, are much more promising than Volkswagen AG itself tries to portray.
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