GFIs1 

" Volkswagen plans to build its new Southeast Europe plant in Manisa near Izmir, Turkey. After the invasion of Northern Syria by Turkish troops, the project could still be shaky. A VW spokesman told SPIEGEL that the project was currently in the "final phase" of planning, but that the development in Northern Syria was being observed "very closely and with great concern". First the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" had reported about it. .... Up to 300,000 vehicles could be produced in Turkey." So this new 1,5 billion investment might be harshly stopped... Of course a nonsense to get into risk as long Erdowan is rambling around. GFIs1

VW had postponed the decision (end of February) to start in Manisa Turkey with a new VW production center.
Corona will be a second hint to bury this project as demand of new cars runs sharply down.

GFIs1

An important day for VW today at the EuGH (European High court)

"Consumers and lawyers are looking forward to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in the VW diesel exhaust scandal. Advocate-General Eleanor Sharpston intends to make her opinion in French proceedings against VW on 30 April 2020 (Case C-693/18). Is an impermissible cut-off device installed in the EA 189 engine? Has VW deceived consumers? When is a cut-off device to protect the engine permissible? A total of nine proceedings in the exhaust gas scandal are pending at the ECJ. In the opinion of the law firm Dr. Stoll & Sauer Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, two of them could give the car manufacturer a diesel gate 2.0. This is because the software update for the EA 189 is under scrutiny. VW has installed the update in order to adapt the exhaust gas purification in the engine to EU standards."

We will soon read the news about the outcoming of those 9 proceedings and the verdict(s).
GFIs1

European Court of Justice hearing (VW)

For VW it looks like a defeat in the diesel exhaust scandal before the European Court of Justice ECJ. In the first VW case ( Case No. C-693/18), Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston made it clear that VW had tampered with the EA 189 diesel engine in an inadmissible manner and thus violated EU law. As a rule, the Court of First Instance follows the Advocates-General's conclusions. A decision is expected shortly. "Great. In the fifth year of the exhaust emissions scandal, a victory for consumers is looming," Dr. Ralf Stoll of the law firm Dr. Stoll & Sauer Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH was pleased to report. In Stoll's opinion, the car manufacturers could lose across the board. After all, according to Sharpston, the software update for the EA 189 and the so-called "thermal window", which is used in millions of vehicles from most car manufacturers, are ultimately an impermissible shutdown device. "Dieselgate 2.0 would be perfect if the court follows the final motion", Stoll summarizes. "Millions of consumers have been harmed and could sue for their rights."

GFIs1

The full summary can be found here (german): https://www.vw-schaden.de/sites/default/files/2020-04/Sharpston_Schlussantrag.pdf

plus an abstract in english of what Sharpston elaborated (translation):
"Sharpston notes that Regulation 715/2007 requires car manufacturers to ensure that vehicles comply with the prescribed emission limits throughout their normal period of use, which implies that vehicles must function safely within these limits. While it cannot be excluded that the operation of an emission control system may have a negative impact on the life or reliability of the engine (in the long term), this does not justify deactivating the system during normal vehicle operation under normal conditions of use simply to protect the engine against wear and tear or progressive pollution, which would render the Regulation ineffective in practice. The Advocate General therefore takes the view that only direct risks of damage which affect the reliability of the engine and constitute a specific risk in the steering of the vehicle can justify the presence of a cut-off device.
Advocate General Sharpston considers that the objective of delaying engine wear or fouling does not justify the use of a shutdown device, and explains that it will be for the national court to determine whether the device in question falls within that exception, but notes that, according to the expert appointed by the national court, the EGR system 'does not destroy the engine' but may degrade engine performance in use and accelerate fouling, making maintenance work 'more frequent and costly'. In the light of that finding contained in the expert's report, the Advocate General considers that the cut-off device in question does not appear necessary to protect the engine from damage or accident and to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle."

Manipulated diesel cars in Germany may be arrested

A followup to the last 2 posts:

"Eleanor Sharpston has the opinion that the type approval was invalid. In any case, she is of the opinion that switching off or reducing exhaust gas cleaning to protect against accidents or engine damage requires express approval. However, the manufacturers had not disclosed the different way in which the emission control system works depending on the conditions. In the Advocate General's view, therefore, type-approval probably related only to engine control in test bench mode. The consequence under German law would be that the undisclosed operation of the exhaust gas purification system under conditions differing from those on the test bench would appear to be a modification of the vehicle as compared with the type-approval, which would lead to the immediate expiry of the approval."

GFIs1

First trial against VW at the High Court of Justice (BGH Germany) in Karlsruhe begins today

Tens of thousands of individual procedures

For the first time, the BGH is dealing with a legal dispute about possible compensation for manipulated diesel vehicles. The case involves a plaintiff from Rheinland-Pfalz who wants to return the used car he bought in 2014 to Volkswagen and wants to be reimbursed the full purchase price of approximately 31,500 euros.

But now it is time for a landmark decision - and that is exactly what he expects from the judges in Karlsruhe. Probably not today on Tuesday, but at a later date, but ... "We assume that the Federal Court of Justice will and wants to pass a judgement! Because of course the debate about this largest German industrial scandal has been dragging on for a very long time, because Volkswagen has managed to prevent several last-minute verdicts - including one at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) - on several occasions.

More to read soon.
GFIs1

Verdict from highest court in Germany came out this morning:

Federal Supreme Court condemns VW in diesel exhaust scandal!
Victory for German consumers in the diesel exhaust scandal. The Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has ordered VW to pay damages. In the view of the court, the company sold its customers illegal and thus illegal engines. Even the purchase of a diesel vehicle with a manipulated exhaust gas control system constituted intentional immoral damage by VW. "This is a great victory for the consumers"!

GFIs1

There is a bunch of new threats ahead

First - after the verdict spoken out today (see last post) there are more than 60,000 trials at courts for the EA 189 open in Germany. This means a earthquake for VW clients that are still waiting for some relief since 2015 when the Diesel scandal - made by VW - evolved.

Second - these trials are all based on the first model with EA 189 motor. Now things heat up as the newer motor of VW - the EA 289 - which until now had not been in the focus now gets in trouble. As there are already many suspect cars with EA 289 motor had been found equally manipulated (even after 2015 when VW was accused) this will get a SECOND wave of trials in Germany for sure. Of course there are VW-models that were sent to hundreds of different countries will have that second wave too.
What does it mean? VW is now in the lights and will have a battle ground more to fight.

GFIs1

Be interesting to see what the damages are given that nobody actually experienced any financial damage at all. Obviously there’s the emissions issue but that effects the planet and everybody on it and not the specific individuals that bought the cars.

SMCJB 

Be interesting to see what the damages are given that nobody actually experienced any financial damage at all. Obviously there’s the emissions issue but that effects the planet and everybody on it and not the specific individuals that bought the cars.

Speaking as one of those diesel owners (Jetta, 2008 TDI) in the US, the main financial damage related to the premium paid for a diesel Jetta versus gas. For me, after the federal tax credit, the buy-back, the cash they gave to say 'sorry', the Bosch settlement, and the overall fuel savings, the whole scandal ended up being a 'win', planetary/environmental damage aside. Of course I had already logged a ton of miles on the car, so I would have been in a different position if my car was newer at the time the scandal broke.

As an aside, I did buy the car with two things in mind: fuel efficiency and emissions levels.

~vmodus

For those who would like to read the first press publication about the trial directly from the High Court in Karlsruhe (BGH) can read it here:

Bundesgerichtshof

It is in German and declares the main verdict against VW. The written reply from the BGH is not available yet.

Good read
GFIs1