(Bloomberg) --
Volkswagen AG and German consumer group VZBV agreed to settlement talks in a court case involving hundreds of thousands of drivers who claim that their diesel cars lost in the wake of the emission-cheating scandal.
VW and VZBV disclosed their decision in separate but identical statements on Thursday. “The common goal of VZBV and Volkswagen is a pragmatic solution for the benefit of the customer,” the two parties involved in the group action said. “The discussions are at a very early stage, and there is no guarantee that they will result in a settlement.”
The move came after the judges in the German court case had urged the two sides in November to consider talks and to let the court know by the end of 2019 whether they are ready to negotiate. The discussions should remain confidential, the judges said.
VW is facing a wave of litigation in Germany and elsewhere by drivers who want their money back for what they say is a loss of in their diesel cars because of the software manipulation exposed by U.S. regulator in September 2015. More than 400,000 drivers signed up for the German test case, filed under a new law introduced in the wake of the scandal.
The diesel-emission scandal haunted VW since it admitted more than four years ago that it used the software in 11 million diesel vehicles. The toll has so far reached 30 billion euros ($33 billion) in fines and other expenses for the firm.
The case is: OLG Braunschweig, 4 MK 1/18.
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