Volkswagen avoided a UK dieselgate trial by paying £193M to 91,000 drivers instead

Volkswagen's 2015 admission that it had installed software to cheat diesel emissions tests set off lawsuits across dozens of countries. In England and Wales, around 91,000 owners of VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda vehicles fitted with the EA189 engine brought a group claim alleging the cars' "two-mode" software detected test conditions and lowered nitrogen oxide output only during testing, then reverted to higher real-world emissions.

The case was scheduled for a six-month High Court trial beginning January 2023 — long enough, and public enough, that a judgment against Volkswagen would have created a detailed factual and legal record other claimants worldwide could cite. Volkswagen settled instead, agreeing in May 2022 to pay £193 million (about $242 million) to the claimant group, averaging just over £2,100 per claimant.

Volkswagen made no admission of liability, causation or loss in the settlement, and said in its own statement that the legal costs of a full trial made settling the commercially prudent choice. The claimants' solicitors — Slater and Gordon, Leigh Day and PGMBM — represented owners under group litigation orders the English courts use for mass consumer claims.