Germans vent Volkswagen fury in mass 'dieselgate' suit

Consumer association accuses company of deliberately harming clients

FRANKFURT: German consumer groups filed the country's first class-action suit over Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal on Thursday, in a first taste for the auto giant of the anger felt by duped diesel drivers.

Consumer association VZBV said in a statement it had filed the request overnight.

They accuse the sprawling 12-brand group of deliberately harming clients by installing software to make cars appear less polluting than they really were.



"Volkswagen will remember this day as the moment the kid gloves of the politicians were replaced by the boxing gloves of consumer advocates," VZBV Chief Klaus Mueller told DPA news agency.

Their legal action has been made possible by new legislation taking effect on November 1 that was hurried through to beat a year-end statute of limitations for claims against VW.

Justice Minister Katarina Barley said "an estimated two million" VW owners could benefit from the new law, although the suit will start on a smaller scale.



Germans have grown increasingly irritated by "dieselgate" fallout as they face plummeting resale values of diesel cars and looming driving bans in big cities due to pollution concerns.

"They have played us for fools," said Christian Saefken, who was "shocked" to discover his Skoda Oktavia was among the rigged VW cars.

The German government has also come under fire for being slow to take on a car industry that employs 800,000 people, even as cheating suspicions spread to other automakers. AFP