Dutch court orders Volkswagen to pay millions to owners for diesel fraud scandal

A court in Amsterdam declared the Volkswagen group liable in a case about software used by its diesel vehicles to side-step emissions measurements. The automaker now has to compensate the buyers of the affected model. In other countries, the people who bought a car with the software have already received compensation.

In the Netherlands, anyone who bought a new Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, or Skoda with the software is entitled to three thousand euros of compensation. If they bought a used car, the compensation amounts to 1,500 euros. According to the Car Claim Foundation, there are around 170 thousand drivers in the Netherlands affected by the scandal.

“They sold a product that did not meet the requirements”, said Guido van Woerkom from the Car Claim Foundation. The organization brought the case against Volkswagen in the Netherlands. Van Woerkom said he is very happy with the verdict.

In 2015, it was discovered that Volkswagen had manipulated emissions tests of cars with the help of the software. The software was able to detect if the car was being tested in a lab or if it was driving on the road. The actual emissions the car produced were, therefore, higher than was shown during the test.

When the fraud was detected, it resulted in an international scandal. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winerkorn resigned. An estimated eleven million cars worldwide had already been sold with the software. Car manufacturers, such as Fiat Chrysler and Daimler were also caught using similar software.

“Today’s ruling is also important for us”, the Dutch consumer group Consumentenbond said. The union also filed a case against Volkswagen together with lawyer, Jurjen Lemstra.