Star Metro - French prosecutors demand Volkswagen face fresh Dieselgate trial

In one of the biggest scandals to hit the auto industry, Volkswagen admitted in 2015 it had sold 11 million vehicles equipped with devices designed to cheat environmental regulations by lowering cars' emissions during testing.

On top of numerous lawsuits still pending against the company in the United States and other countries, French prosecutors have now called for it to face charges of aggravated fraud in France too.

The company in response contested the French allegations, saying it was not liable to face trial in the Paris case.

In a court filing in late February and later seen by AFP, prosecutors said nearly a million French customers had to pay for servicing and repairs after the emissions breach was revealed.

They said that a 2021 experts' report concluded the company used the test-cheating software under a "cost-benefit" strategy "approved by management".

They cited as an aggravating factor the harm to health from the nitrogen dioxide emissions whose levels were falsely represented by the manufacturer.

Volkswagen told AFP in a statement it "contests the grounds of the accusations of aggravated fraud".

It "judges that French consumers did not suffer any harm such as to make them liable for compensation".

It said that vehicles sold in France had already been covered by a court case in Germany that ended in 2018 with it paying out a billion euros (more than $1 billion) in compensation.

"A double conviction on identical allegations is totally prohibited," it said.

The Paris prosecutors insisted the French charges were "complementary" to the German case with a focus on consumers' rights.

W.Richard--SMC