Schwering Rechtsanwälte has once again enforced damages against Audi AG in the emissions scandal. The Baden-Baden Regional Court ruled on April 8, 2021 that the buyer of an Audi SQ5 3.0 TDI is entitled to compensation for willful immoral damage (Ref .: 4 O 242/20).
The plaintiff had bought the Audi SQ5 3.0 TDI in April 2016 as a used car with a mileage of 47,900 kilometers at a price of around 52,300 euros. The 3-liter EA 897 evo diesel engine with the Euro 6 emissions standard, developed and manufactured by Audi, is installed in the vehicle.
At the beginning of 2018, the Federal Motor Transport Authority ordered a mandatory recall for the model. The reason for the recall was the use of an impermissible disconnection device in the form of a rapid heating strategy. The plaintiff had the following software update installed, but also made claims for damages.
The lawsuit was successful. The plaintiff had been deliberately damaged in an immoral manner and was entitled to compensation under Section 826 of the German Civil Code, ruled the Baden-Baden Regional Court.
Audi put the vehicle on the market with an impermissible defeat device and only pretended that it was eligible, the court said. The pollutant-reducing heating strategy is active in test mode and ensures that the limit values for nitrogen oxide emissions are observed in the test cycle. In real driving, however, the function is not active, so that pollutant emissions increase significantly. Therefore, the heating function is an impermissible disconnection device, the court stated.
The plaintiff suffered damage as a result of this deception. It can be assumed that she would not have bought the vehicle if she had known that it did not meet the limit values of emission class 6 and that the operation of the vehicle violated legal regulations. The purchase contract should therefore be reversed, according to the Baden-Baden Regional Court.
If the vehicle is returned, the plaintiff can request the reimbursement of the purchase price (approx. 52,300 euros). For the approximately 49,000 kilometers driven, however, she has to deduct a usage fee of approximately 12,700 euros, so that she is entitled to payment of approximately 39,600 euros.
“The judgment is further evidence that claims for damages can be enforced in the exhaust gas scandal in vehicles with 3-liter turbodiesel engines. The higher regional courts in Frankfurt, Koblenz and Naumburg have already decided that Audi must pay compensation. The engines are not only used in various Audi models, but also in the Porsche Cayenne, Porsche Macan and VW Touareg, ”says lawyer Andreas Schwering.
More information: https://www.rechtsanwaelte-schwering.de/
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