The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) designed diesel models to cheat emissions tests. Lawyers have brought at least 25 class actions on behalf of scores of car owners in all 50 U.S. states. Included are local Mastando & Artrip, LLC.
As reported in AL.com (http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/volkswagen_sued_by_alabama_car.html)
A car owner in Huntsville sued the Volkswagen Group of America in federal court this week over the use of software designed to cheat U.S. emissions tests.
Michelle Davis Redmond purchased a 2012 Jetta TDi in Huntsville and has filed a lawsuit seeking class action status to sue the automaker on behalf of all misled Volkswagen owners in Alabama. The suit filed in U.S. District Court on Monday seeks an amount in damages to be determined at trial.
“I was disappointed, really disappointed,” said Davis.”I want to like Volkswagen.”
She said the sales pitch for her car included the fuel efficiency and that it was environmentally friendly for a diesel.
But last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that Volkswagen had rigged diesel automobiles with software that would switch to a cleaner operating mode when the car was hooked up for emission tests.
On Monday night, Volkswagen’s U.S. President and CEO, Michael Horn, told a New York audience “we have totally screwed up.” The scandal and market fallout this week has already cost Volkswagen billions in falling stock value.
Redmond, who lives in Huntsville and still owns the Jetta, claims in the suit that her car was marketed as possessing the “holy grail of automotive qualities: extremely high fuel efficiency and performance, with very low emissions.”
The suit contends owners paid thousands of dollars extra for the advertised perks, but “their environmentally-friendly representations were a sham.”
The suit reads: “This nationwide class action concerns the intentional installation of so-called defeat devices on over 482,000 diesel Volkswagen and Audi vehicles sold in the United States since 2009.”
Volkswagen today revealed 11 million vehicles worldwide were affected. South Korea announced it would investigate emissions levels of Volkswagen diesel vehicles.
New reports indicate the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation.
Volkswagen is already setting aside 6.5 billion euros to pay to fix the vehicles and to cover other expenses, such as fines and civil suits.
A statement from Volkswagen today said: “Volkswagen does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever. It is and remains the top priority of the Board of Management to win back lost trust and to avert damage to our customers.”
In Huntsville, Redmond said: “It just really made me question Volkswagen’s integrity. If they are willing to do that, what else would be willing to cover up?”
While the automaker may recall and fix the emissions devices, the Alabama suit claims, the car owners “will continue to suffer significant harm.”
That’s because in order to comply with emission standards the fix will lead to decreased horsepower and “their vehicles will no longer perform as they did when purchased and as advertised.”
The suit was filed by Huntsville attorneys Eric Artrip and Anthony Mastando.
The suit alleges breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
“Volkswagen has charged a substantial premium for the Affected Vehicles, ironically marketed by Volkswagen as ‘Clean Diesel,'” reads the suit.
The post Local Law Firm Part of Class Action against VW appeared first on Eyes on Huntsville.