Dieselgate: Swiss car owner becomes first to win compensation
For the first time in Switzerland, a Volkswagen customer won an appeal court case against car dealer AMAG, obtaining the cancellation of the sale agreement and a compensation of CHF18,000 ($20,572) - plus estimated court and legal costs.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDa/RTS/sp
In Switzerland no Volkswagen customer has ever been compensated after the 2015 Dieselgate controversy. But this is about to change. A Geneva court has once more confirmed the liability of an AMAG importer and concluded that the Swiss owner of a Volkswagen diesel car was right when he cancelled his sale agreement, Swiss public television RTSExternal link reported on Thursday.
The court had already reached this conclusion in 2021, but AMAG had appealed. In June, the trial in Geneva granted another victory to the Swiss customer, who will be the first in the Alpine country to get compensation.
The court ruled that the vehicle was still too polluting according to the applicable standards, and the Swiss driver could have been fined for driving the car. But AMAG said in a statement that the judgement was based on “a legally incorrect expert opinion. Its erroneous results are not transferable to other vehicles.” Now the Swiss company does not rule out a further appeal to the Federal Court.
But the lawyer of the plaintiff, Jacques Roulet, told RTS that there are potentially tens of thousands of Swiss drivers who drive VW diesel vehicles with manipulated engines that are not in compliance.
In 2015, the emissions scandal revealed how around 11 million of the German diesel cars were manipulated to show low emissions in official tests, but in normal use were significantly more polluting. Around 180,000 car buyers and lessees in Switzerland are said to have been affected by the manipulations.
Popular Stories
More
Science
Switzerland now has a Professor of Gender Medicine. She’s here to stay.
Is reforming the Swiss pension system still possible, and if so, how?
Solutions still need to be found to meet the challenge of an ageing population and to improve the pensions of low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women.
Swiss air traffic control upgrade slows tempo for safety reasons
This content was published on
The upgrade of Switzerland’s air traffic control system will take longer than anticipated following a series of malfunctions.
Switzerland remains ‘world’s most innovative country’
This content was published on
Switzerland remains the world's most innovative country, still ahead of Sweden and the US on the WIPO Global Innovation Index.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Court rejects damages claims against Volkswagen and Swiss importer
This content was published on
A Zurich court has dismissed claims for damages by a consumer group against the German car firm Volkswagen and Swiss importer Amag.
Swiss business raided over Fiat-Iveco ‘Dieselgate’ probe
This content was published on
Investigators have searched offices of car giant Fiat Chrysler and truck maker CNH Industrial in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.