DIESELGATE - THE BACKGROUND.

In May 2022, VW Group (the parent company of Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen) reached an out of court settlement with approximately 91,000 claimants in England and Wales for a collective sum of a reported £193 million. The settlement related to class-action style litigation in respect of the dieselgate scandal. Dieselgate concerns the misuse of emissions technology, which led to the significant under-reporting of harmful nitrogen oxide (Nix) emitted by certain diesel vehicles manufactured within the relevant period. Consumers have successfully made similar claims against VW Group in other jurisdictions such as the USA and Germany.

VW Group is not the only company on the hook. Equivalent litigation has started against various other manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz Group (including Smart), the BMW Group (including Mini Cooper), Ford, Jaguar-Land Rover, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai (including Kia), Stellantis (including Citroen, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Chrysler, Cherokee and Fiat), Volvo, Toyota, Suzuki, Lexus, Honda, Dacia and Mitsubishi.

As in any litigation, claimants must establish that they have suffered a loss. The claims elsewhere have been based on arguments that consumers would not have bought such vehicles had the alleged emissions flaws been known, that the price of such vehicles was inflated based on the understanding that they were more environmentally friendly (than in fact they were) and – in scenarios where the vehicle had to be fixed to comply with emissions standards – mechanical fixes have potentially lowered the value of relevant vehicles and / or created additional costs for registered keepers. 

Consumers who bought or leased vehicles in Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man are not currently eligible to participate in collective litigation brought in England and Wales (or anywhere else).  This means that it will be necessary to bring separate proceedings in the islands in order to obtain redress for crown dependency residents.  We are committed to the endeavour of seeking such redress.

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