Author: Zheng Zheng
Source: GPLP
Lawsuits against Volkswagen are “commonplace”.
On April 8th, Xinhua reported that the British High Court ruled on the 6th that the German Volkswagen Group had used “cheating software” to forge diesel exhaust emissions data, and the act violated EU law.
According to a judge of the British High Court, about 1.2 million diesel vehicles under the Volkswagen Group have been installed with cheating devices. It is understood that the device can help the diesel vehicle of the Volkswagen Group to tamper with the emission data and thus pass the emission test.
Some analysts said that the British High Court ’s ruling on the Volkswagen Group will help more than 90,000 Volkswagen owners file a class action lawsuit against the Volkswagen Group. If the final decision is confirmed, the Volkswagen Group will pay a high amount of compensation for this.
However, Volkswagen Group denied the above allegations. It is understood that in response to the decision of the British High Court, the Volkswagen Group said in a statement that it was “disappointed” and that the above judgment still needs further investigation. At the same time, Volkswagen Group is considering an appeal and firmly believes that the company will not be held accountable.
Regarding the detailed progress of the entire incident, GPLP has sent an inquiry letter to the public for inquiries, but as of the time of publication, no response has been received. However, referring to similar incidents that have occurred in the Volkswagen Group in recent years, this case may lead to continued damage to the brand image of the Volkswagen Group before the dust is completely settled.
According to public information, in September 2015, various models of the Volkswagen Group were accused of “exhaust emissions cheating”, and the impact of the incident on the Volkswagen Group can be described as prolonged. From 2015 to 2019, the Volkswagen Group has been investigated and litigated by the United States, Canada, Poland and other countries for the problem of non-compliance of exhaust emissions. It is reported that its cumulative expenditure for this incident has exceeded 100 million yuan.
In addition, it is reported that the Volkswagen Group was also suspected of participating in the “Cartel Monopoly Alliance”. It is reported that in April 2019, the European Commission announced that during the period 2006-2014, Volkswagen Group and Daimler entered into a joint agreement with BMW to monopolize the clean emission technology of diesel engines.
BMW has also spent up to 1.4 billion euros in litigation reserves for this. The reason why the Volkswagen Group did not suffer from it is understood to be the initiative to “surrender” and provide the EU with relevant evidence of the establishment of a monopoly.
People familiar with the matter said that although most of the negative events concerning the Volkswagen Group have become a thing of the past, their impact on the Volkswagen brand has a certain stay. This kind of influence is very likely to cause the Volkswagen Group to be exposed to similar problems as the previous incidents. Consumers will prejudge the Volkswagen Group’s problems based on the “There may be” psychology, rather than waiting for the incident Only to conclude.
Taken together, the historical impact may not be conducive to the Volkswagen Group to properly handle this incident, and its sales may also be frustrated by the incident. As for the follow-up of this case, GPLP will continue to pay attention.
