Dhe sports car maker Porsche is able to settle an unpleasant US lawsuit over allegedly misleading fuel consumption figures for hundreds of thousands of cars. The responsible judge Charles Breyer agreed to a comparison with American plaintiffs on Wednesday (local time). The company will pay at least $80 million to car owners to settle the civil lawsuit. The allegations involved potential fuel economy and emissions discrepancies.
The luxury car manufacturer, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group, was initially targeted by American plaintiff lawyers in 2020 due to media reports about irregularities in the emission values of petrol engines. A driving force was the large law firm Lieff Cabraser, which already played an important role in the VW “Dieselgate” scandal. After the class action lawsuits initially focused on possible exhaust gas manipulations, the settlement that has now been concluded is ultimately primarily about allegedly misleading information on fuel consumption.
Porsche denies allegations
Porsche had already stated in a statement in June that it had not recognized the allegations regarding the compromise with the plaintiffs. “The agreement serves to end the issue,” the company said.
The comparison only applies to vehicles sold in the United States. In Germany, the Federal Motor Transport Authority initiated proceedings in 2021. According to court documents, there are around 500,000 Porsche cars built between 2005 and 2020 in the United States. Owners are said to receive up to $1,110 in compensation per car.
