2018.11.28
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has ruled Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) must reimburse the owner of a Golf the full original price of his vehicle bought in 2012, dealing a blow to the carmaker as the legal battles over its emissions cheating scandal drag on.
Volkswagen (VW) said it believed the court in Augsburg had misapplied the law and that it would appeal the ruling at the higher regional court.
The Augsburg civil court ruled on Nov. 14th that VW had acted immorally by deliberately installing emissions-cheating software to increase sales and profits, a spokesman for the court said on Friday.
The court ordered VW to repay the owner the original price of almost 30,000 euros ($34,200), according to a copy of the ruling.
"In our opinion, there is no legal basis for customer complaints. Customers have suffered neither losses nor damages. The vehicles are safe and roadworthy," VW said in a statement.
It added that around 9,000 judgements had been issued in connection with its diesel emissions scandal, which came to light in 2015, and the majority of customer complaints had been unsuccessful at district and higher courts.
"The decision of the district court in Augsburg thereby stands in contradiction to multiple decisions of other courts in comparable cases," VW said.
Its shares were little changed at 151.88 euros at 0844 GMT.
VW has said about 11 million diesel cars worldwide were fitted with software that could cheat emissions tests designed to limit noxious car fumes.
The German carmaker has agreed to pay billions of dollars in the United States to settle claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers. It offered to buy back 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles.
The company has not reached a similar deal in Europe, where it faces billions of euros in claims from investors and customers in the worst business crisis in its history.
German court rules Volkswagen must reimburse owner full price of car
Reuters Reuters•November 23, 2018
Reuters Reuters•November 23, 2018
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Mark Potter)
VW to appeal German court ruling ordering diesel car buyback
Associated Press Associated Press•November 23, 2018
BERLIN (AP) -- German automaker Volkswagen says it will appeal a court ruling that orders it to buy back a six-year-old diesel vehicle at the original sales price.
In a statement Friday, Volkswagen said it expects an appeals court to overturn the verdict issued last week by judges in the southern German city of Augsburg.
The company has paid billions of dollars in fines and compensation to diesel car owners since 2015 for cheating on emissions tests.
But until the Augsburg verdict, courts in Germany had deducted a usage fee when ordering VW to buy back affected diesel cars.
In their ruling, judges in Augsburg said VW had acted "immorally" by manipulating the emissions control software in its cars in order to increase sales.
Volkswagen insists that "customers suffered neither loss nor damage."
2016
Inside Volkswagen's Diesel Fraud - Fortune
fortune.com/inside-volkswagen-emissions-scandal/
How the massive diesel fraud incinerated VW’s reputation—and will hobble the company for years to come.Volkswagen emissions scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal
The Volkswagen emissions scandal erupted on 18 September 2015, when the United States ...... equivalent of the E.P.A. and a co-founder of the International Council on Clean Transportation claims “It's not just fraud — it's physical assault.”今年6月，美國各大監管機構陸續登上新聞頭條。因為他們與在柴油車廢氣測試中作弊的福士汽車（Volkswagen）達成150億美元的和解協議，然而，這項重金協議卻在一個關鍵方面存在不足：就算對相關車輛進行召回和修理，它們也無法完全符合當前美國清潔空氣法案的標準。
從協議來看，此案涉及482000台2.0TDI柴油機，包括早至2009年的Jetta、Golf和Beetle等車型。其中最老的車所排放的污染物，超出了排放標準的許可範圍。多年來，福士一直在偷偷規避這些標準。作為補償，福士將向美國環保項目投資數十億美元。
可惜的是，政府談判人員並未要求經過修理的汽車符合當前的排放標準，這引起了一些清潔空氣倡議者的不滿。「安全氣候運動」負責人貝克爾（Daniel Becker）表示，「不知道為什麼，他們竟然允許修理過的汽車仍然存在問題，允許那些車排放規定兩倍的污染物。」
福士同意出資100億美元，用於回購受影響的車型和補償車主。公司還將支付27億美元用於減輕污染的工程，並將額外拿出20億美元用於清潔技術項目。福士還與44個州達成了價值6.03億美元的和解協議，用於應對消費者和環境方面的索賠。福士集團行政總裁穆勒（Matthias Müller）在當時的一份聲明中說，「我們將嚴肅對待糾正錯誤的承諾，而且我們也相信這些協議是非常重要的一步。」
但是，福士的法律糾紛並未就此結束。 7月19日，紐約州、馬里蘭州和馬薩諸塞州都宣布將在近期提起訴訟。這些指控「表明了公司存在一種根深蒂固的傲慢，而且刻意罔顧法規，無視公眾健康與環境保護，」紐約州檢察長施耐德曼（Eric Schneiderman）在聲明中稱，「福士必須受到重罰，僅彌補美國消費者的損失遠遠不夠。」
案件還將指明福士旗下Audi和保時捷（Porsche）品牌，以及這些品牌的美國分部。據投訴，在接到德國一名高級內部律師的消息後，很多福士員工都銷毀了罪證，而且在多次調查中，都未向監管者透露事實出入背後的真正原因。福士發言人吉尼凡（Jeannine Ginivan）說，「很遺憾，有些州決定就環境問題進行起訴，儘管它們開始也支持聯邦與各州的協同行動。」
對於6月的和解協議，加州空氣資源委員會（California Air Resources Board）估計，修好之後，福士柴油機將減排80%至90%。但監管者還估計，這些車排放的氮氧化物可能會高達規定量的40倍。所以，就算減排90%，這些車的排放量還是會高於完全符合清潔空氣法規定的車輛。
「福士故意違背法律規定，還撒謊，並不是車主，」空氣資源委員會發言人克萊根（David Clegern）表示。「所以，對於如何處理自己的車輛，車主獲得了很大的自由。」
克萊根說，與福士的法律協議，將全面減少加州各地受影響車輛過去及未來的排放對環境造成的危害。作為協議的部分內容，最初揭發福士排放作弊的加州，還將獲得8億美元用於發展清潔能源。
福士可能會進行召回，但是在發出召回通知前，修理方式必須先經過監管機構批准。自然資源保護協會（Natural Resources Defense Council）能源與交通負責人黃生表示，相關研究，以及與福士的談判已經進行了數月之久，但雙方並未達成此類協議；給這些車輛安裝尿素罐——大多數柴油車都用它來淨化廢氣——費用將非常昂貴。不過，監管機構和福士在消除空氣污染的其他方式上達成了協議。「他們告訴我們，他們正在計算成本，」黃說，「有了緩解策略和回購策略，監管者有信心，將來和過去的排放將得到全面，甚至更多的補償。」
對於美國國家環保局（Environmental Protection Agency）而言，首要問題是「盡可能多和快地減少過度污染，以便同時對車主進行保護」，環保局發言人康格（Nick Conger）表示，「協議既能保護消費者，又能保護公眾，」他說，「車主們可以選擇自己想要的解決方案，福士則需要全面解決過度的氮氧化物所造成的污染。」
根據與美國政府的協議，福士需要在2019年6月30日前，召回85%的受影響車輛。如果未能達成目標，每少一個百分點，就必須多向環保信託機構支付8500萬美元。在加州，如果召回車輛未達85%，每少一個百分點，公司還需額外向信託機構支付1350萬美元。
儘管無法通過州排放測試，福士車主目前還是可以繼續駕駛車輛。將來，各州可能會要求這些車按規定減少排放。選擇回購的車主，將獲得車輛去年9月——福士承認作弊前——的以舊換新值和賠償金。
「污染越嚴重，就意味著疾病越多，過早死亡的人越多，」貝克爾說，「這是件壞事。我想政府已經權衡過各種選擇，而這是他們能拿出的最好方案。」――Jeff Plungis、Kartikay Mehrota、Erik Larson
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