Volkswagen AG (VW) investors have filed 1,400 lawsuits seeking 8.2 billion euros (US$9.21 billion) in damages over the “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal, a German court said on Wednesday, adding to the embattled car giant’s legal woes.
Investors say the carmaker failed to disclose details of the case in a timely way, leading them to lose money as the group’s share price plunged by 40 percent in two days after the crisis erupted in September last year.
The US$9.21 billion in claims are mostly made up of “bundled” actions containing lawsuits from multiple plaintiffs, many of them private investors, according to the court in Brunswick, close to VW’s Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony headquarters.
The US government and several German state governments are also among the claimants.
Another claimant is Blackrock Inc, the world’s largest fund manager, and a group of institutional shareholders who are suing VW for 2 billion euros.
VW has set aside 18 billion euros to pay for the legal costs of the crisis and has so far agreed to pay US$15 billion in compensation and fines in the US alone. Analysts estimate the final bill could reach up to 35 billion euros.
During its talks with a top EU official on Wednesday, VW pledged to ensure that all cars across the bloc were fixed by autumn next year, the European Commission said in a statement.
“Today Volkswagen committed to a plan of action across the EU which is an important step towards a fair treatment of consumers,” European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova said.
During the talks, the car giant pledged “to ensure all vehicles are repaired by autumn 2017,” and to supply consumers with a “proof of conformity” certificate, commission spokesman Christian Wigand said.
A spokesman for VW reiterated the carmaker’s position that it “continues to believe that we comprehensively fulfilled our obligations under capital markets law and that the claims are unjustified.”
German law does not allow for class-action suits.
However, the case’s prospects for success might be limited.
“History has shown that it is very difficult to prove damages of this type in Germany and win a legal case like this,” NordLB bank analyst Frank Schwope said.
In a similar case relating to Porsche’s failed takeover of VW, a Stuttgart court last year found against investors claiming damages over the timing of the luxury carmaker’s communications.
In this case, VW might strike out-of-court settlements with some plaintiffs, while the court is unlikely to award the full amount of compensation investors seek, Schwope said.
The carmaker will not find itself reaching for its pocketbook soon as “the case could last for years,” he added.
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