VW drohen Milliardenschwere Strafen in den USA

VW emissions scandal.

Despite an official admission of guilt and a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the car company faces further fines amounting to billions in the USA. An appeals court has ruled that regional authorities can impose additional sanctions.

Volkswagen had advertised its diesel engines in the USA as “Clean Diesel”. However, the vehicles, which were fitted with illegal switch-off devices, were only clean on the test bench. In real operation on the road, they emitted up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides than is permitted under the strict requirements of the Clean Air Act. In the USA alone, around 585,000 vehicles of the brands VW, Audi and Porsche affected by illegal software manipulation.

30 billion euros in legal costs

US authorities and courts did not allow this deliberate and systematic manipulation of emissions to pass. The Environmental Protection Agency EPA The company agreed to an official admission of guilt and a settlement. There were also further fines and compensation for deceived car buyers. Overall, Volkswagen's legal costs so far amount to around 30 billion euros, the lion's share of which is due to proceedings in the USA. In Germany, the car manufacturer has Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) reached a settlement in the amount of 650,000 million euros.

violations of regional environmental regulations

For Volkswagen The case was settled with the EPA settlement, but not for the American authorities. In addition to the environmental agency, district governments in several counties had also sued the car company and its supplier Bosch for violating regional environmental regulations. Bosch had supplied the dosing control units for the software manipulation and was required to pay fines for this in both the USA and Germany.

Court allows further lawsuits despite settlement

The US counties' lawsuits were initially rejected by a Californian court. The judges followed the Volkswagen Group's argument that the US Congress had transferred responsibility for checking compliance with the provisions of the Clean Air Act to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Salt Lake City County (Utah) and Hillsborough County (Florida) appealed this decision to an appeals court in Anchorage (Alaska). The judges decided that, despite the settlements already reached, additional sanctions by the two counties in Florida and Utah were permissible.

11 billion US dollars in additional fines

This could VW will once again be very expensive. If the appeals court's decision stands, the two counties' claims could amount to around 11 billion US dollars per year - and result in further lawsuits from district governments. VW does not want to accept the ruling and will take the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States if necessary.

"The judges of the US appeals court are fully aware that their vote could result in huge fines for Volkswagen. But their decision is based on the fact that the car manufacturer not only installed the illegal switch-off devices in new vehicles, but also subsequently manipulated them, which increased pollutant emissions even further. This makes it clear that the continued fraud is far from the end of the road for VW. Neither in the USA nor in Germany, where the clear ruling of the Federal Court of Justice offers injured car buyers good chances of higher compensation. At least 60,000 cases against Volkswagen are still open here."

Partner Dr. Marco Rogert