Model declaratory action against VW
The settlement negotiations failed for the time being, 400,000 VW customers were affected.
Düsseldorf, Berlin The Comparative negotiations between the Federal Consumer Association (vzbv) and Volkswagen have failed for the time being. The carmaker said on Friday that an agreement had already been reached with the association. The comparison did an order of 830 million euros had.
at maximum 400,000 affected would result in an average claim of 2000 euros for everyone VW-Customer who joined the model declaratory action. This corresponds to 15 percent of the purchase price of the affected vehicles.
Volkswagen said the deal failed because of the lawyers’ demands. “The litigation attorneys of the Federal Consumer Advice Center insisted until the end on a lump sum payment of 50 million euros for the settlement,” said a spokesman for VW.
The legal advisers of the consumer association would never have provided sufficient concrete evidence of the services for which these 50 million euros should be paid to the plaintiffs’ lawyers. “They refused to have an independent legal review of their fee claims. However, a payment without a sufficiently concrete proof of performance or without a legal reason is impossible for Volkswagen, ”said the spokesman.
Instead, the VW board decided on Friday to offer the affected customers a comparison package of a total of 830 million euros. “We said from the start that a fair and practicable solution for customers is at the forefront of the negotiations. That is why we will offer customers the comparison that has already been negotiated, ”said VW legal director Hiltrud Werner.
The 50 million euros that the vzbv lawyers had requested “without a specific justification” are unacceptable. The purpose of the model declaratory action is to create legal certainty efficiently and inexpensively. Volkswagen is convinced that the one-time payment offered is the best solution for diesel customers. “This business conduct of the plaintiffs’ attorneys must not be borne by the customers,” added Werner.
Work on a technical platform
From the VW perspective, the Group’s offer is the easiest way to find a quick solution with drivers. Even after an agreement with the vzbv as part of the model declaratory action, it would probably take years for money to actually flow. Because every single driver would have to assert his personal claim for damages himself in court.
“It would be another year before individual final judgments were given. This feat of strength could not be mastered by the German judiciary. A comparison in this procedure is therefore the most sensible solution for everyone: for the customers, for the judiciary and for Volkswagen, ”said Manfred Döss, chief legal officer of the VW Group.
Volkswagen is already working on a technical platform to be able to process compensation payments to hundreds of thousands of customers, the group confirmed. From the end of March, this platform should enable customers with comparative rights to quickly access the offer tailored to them. In the United States, the group had already had experience with such a massive settlement. More than 500,000 diesel customers were compensated there.
vzbv boss Klaus Müller commented at noon on the failed settlement negotiations with VW. He rejected the VW group’s statement that the negotiations had failed due to excessive fee demands from consumer lawyers. “Unfortunately, the settlement negotiations between Volkswagen and vzbv failed due to Volkswagen’s unwillingness to enable a transparent, trustworthy and safe system for processing,” emphasized Müller in Berlin.
Lawyers deny allegations
The vzbv did not consider it necessary for the vzbv to process it. Just two days ago, the association submitted an alternative proposal. “In view of the diesel fraud by Volkswagen, a safe solution for consumers was of great importance for vzbv. A comparison that is not reliable or has incalculable consequences for consumers is in no way acceptable to us, ”said Müller.
The lawyers of the association are the Russ Litigation law firm, an amalgamation of Dr. Stoll & Sauer and Rogert & Ulbrich. The two law firms are among the leading representatives of diesel customers who are suing VW. Based on this expertise, they were selected by the consumer association to accompany the model declaratory action.
Lawyer Marco Rogert denied to the Handelsblatt that the agreement failed due to the demands of the lawyers. “These are just pretexts,” said Rogert. Due to the confidentiality clause, to which he still feels bound, unlike VW, it did not want to comment on further details.
To date, it has not been finally clarified how many claims are actually justified. The register still has to be cleaned up for registrations that do not drive a vehicle with the manipulated EA 189 engine at all. Only then could the approximately 400,000 cases be processed. This would require a technical and personnel solution.
At the beginning of January, VW and vzbv had declared that they wanted to talk about an out-of-court settlement to the model process. Both sides called the “common goal of a pragmatic solution in the interests of the customers”. VW had long been skeptical about this.