Six years after the explosion of the dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen continues to pay (dearly) the price for its mistakes. The German automotive giant will in fact have to pay one fine of AUD 125 million, around €76 million, for manipulating emissions data from its diesel vehicles in Australia. This is the highest fine ever imposed in the country on a company for violating consumer rights.
The decision comes directly from the Australian Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal presented by Volkswagen against a sentence issued two years ago by the Federal Court which established a 50% increase in the amount of the fine. According to the judges, the company should have provided correct emissions information to the country's authorities, when it asked for approval for the sale of 57 diesel vehicles between 2011 and 2015. If he had communicated the real data, the judges continue, the go-ahead for marketing would never have arrived.
Recall that Volkswagen, for the same reason, already has negotiated a fine of 59,7 million dollars in the US. The scandal started right there, when the EPA, the US environmental protection agency, announced that the German company had illegally installed manipulation software designed to circumvent environmental emissions regulations on its cars.
On 28 September, the European Commission, together with national consumer authorities, invited the Volkswagen group to compensate all customers – not just the German ones – for the damage caused by the scandal. "The dieselgate exploded six years ago," underlined Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. “So far, not all consumers have been compensated. There have been court rulings demonstrating Volkswagen's unfair treatment of consumers, yet the automaker is unwilling to find adequate solutions for affected motorists. As I wrote to the company last year, not only Germans, but all consumers must be compensated."
