Volkswagen
Following the Dieselgate scandal, the CPC authorities sent a letter to the Volkswagen Group, on 7 September 2017, urging the group swiftly repair all affected cars. In December 2017, Volkswagen committed to continue to offer free-of-charge repairs in 2018. In July 2018, the European Commission and national consumer authorities published their conclusions on the 8.5 million car recalls made in the Union by the Volkswagen group after the Dieselgate. Authorities welcome the VW Group’s effort to build trust in the recall and the significant improvement in the information provided to consumers. The rate of repair is now reaching 80% and the Group committed to continue the free of charge update until the end of 2020. The Commission and consumer authorities, however, regretted that the company could not give a full and clear guarantee in case of problems after the repair.
On 11 August 2020 The Commissioner for Justice and Consumers Didier Reynders, wrote to Volkswagen Group to strongly encourage the group to offer fair compensation to all affected EU consumers, stressing that consumers expect to be treated with fairness and receive adequate compensation for the damage they have suffered in a similar way across the Union.
Further to a judgment of the European Court of Justice, the CPC authorities, coordinated by the European Commission, issued a declaration on 28 September 2021 concluding that Volkswagen’s commercial practices as regards the marketing of diesel cars equipped with illegal exhaust gas manipulation systems violated EU consumer protection law. The authorities asked the company to find appropriate solutions for EU consumers seeking redress in various lawsuits across the EU, to avoid years of further litigation. So far, VW has agreed only to compensate EU consumers residing in Germany at the time of the car purchase. In response, VW told the Commission and CPC authorities that it considered voluntary payments to European consumers residing outside Germany not to be justified since the affected cars have now been altered to meet legal requirements. The company’s position has not changed despite recent EU and national court decisions.