Audi has to pay for the first time in the diesel scandal

In the diesel scandal, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) sentenced the car manufacturer Audi to pay compensation for the first time. In four cases, the Volkswagen subsidiary has to compensate car buyers for the fact that a manipulated VW engine was installed in their vehicles. The BGH thus confirmed a corresponding ruling by the Munich Higher Regional Court and rejected the appeal requested by Audi. The presiding judge Rüdiger Pamp said in the verdict: "The Munich Higher Regional Court found in an unobjectionable way that Audi used the engines with knowledge and awareness of their inadmissibility." In 2020, the Munich Higher Regional Court judges came to the conclusion that at least one person in charge at Audi knew that the engines purchased from the parent company contained an impermissible cut-off device and thus manipulated the exhaust emissions. Audi was thus involved itself and had to repay the customer the purchase price of the vehicle minus a compensation for use. The BGH considered this argument to be viable. So far, the BGH had referred all lawsuits against the VW subsidiary back to the lower courts because it did not consider it to be sufficient evidence that leading Audi managers knew about the manipulation at VW. The latest decision by the highest civil court could now also affect ongoing proceedings. However, Audi emphasized that these were individual cases. The judgment is not easily transferable to pending lawsuits. "From our point of view, the decision is wrong," said the group. There is no immoral act of deception on the part of Audi AG, which did not develop the engine. In Karlsruhe, Audi attorney Moritz Becker criticized the fact that the OLG had raised the charge of immoral damage "without even having taken any evidence, without even having said which person it was supposed to have been at Audi".