The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen, accusing the company of deceiving customers with its ‘Clean Diesel’ marketing.
The agency is seeking compensation for consumers who bought or leased vehicles affected by the diesel emissions scandal. The fiasco remains unresolved in the US, as VW has not yet outlined a refit plan to bring vehicles into compliance.
“For years Volkswagen’s ads touted the company’s ‘Clean Diesel’ cars even though it now appears Volkswagen rigged the cars with devices designed to defeat emissions tests,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “Our lawsuit seeks compensation for the consumers who bought affected cars based on Volkswagen’s deceptive and unfair practices.”
VW allegedly claimed its Clean Diesel vehicles reduced nitrogen oxides by up to 90 percent, however independent tests measured real-world NOx emissions up to 4,000 times the legal limit. The company is also accused of telling customers the diesel vehicles were “50-state compliant” and would retain a high resale value.
The FTC has not publicly disclosed a specific dollar figure that will be sought from VW. The agency claims the deception involves more than 550,000 diesel vehicles, with an average selling price of approximately $28,000.
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