Indicted as part of an investigation into Dieselgate, the Volkswagen group saw its appeal dismissed by the Paris Court of Appeal. He intends to appeal in cassation. Meanwhile, the lawsuits are ongoing.
The Paris Court of Appeal has just rejected Volkswagen’s appeal, which requested the cancellation of the proceedings initiated against it in the context of an investigation into Dieselgate. In June 2021, the German group was indicted in France for “deception” following the famous Diesel engine scandal which it admitted, in 2015, to have rigged. Eleven million vehicles are affected worldwide, and Volkswagen has already been ordered to pay around 30 billion euros in fines following several procedures, notably in the United States and Germany.
Volkswagen refuses any double conviction
The manufacturer contests his indictment in France, arguing that he has already been convicted in Germany after a procedure initiated on the same grounds. The firm relies on the principle that no one can be judged twice for the same facts. ” The proceedings against Volkswagen AG ended in Germany in 2018 with the payment of a fine of one billion euros for identical alleged facts. The payment of this fine by Volkswagen does not however imply any recognition either of the alleged facts or of its responsibility. said M.and Nicolas Huc-Morel, lawyer for Volkswagen.
Despite the dismissal of his appeal, Volkswagen does not intend to stop there and plans to appeal in cassation. Last May, the manufacturer was ordered on appeal to compensate a French customer who owned a vehicle equipped with its emissions fraud software. Here again, Volkswagen had announced that it would appeal to the Court, fearing a case law that could force it to pay massive compensation afterwards.
Several manufacturers targeted in France
The investigations launched after the revelations concerning Volkswagen had brought to light significant pollution differences in other brands between the approval procedures and the real traffic conditions. The question remains whether these cars are optimized for testing without adopting a specific behavior during them, or whether they too have a cheat device. In France, Renault, Peugeot, Citroën and the former FCA group have also been indicted.
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Source :AFP via France 24
