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Kentucky Sues Volkswagen, Joins the Club

Volkswagen is being taken to court in Kentucky as well. The Commonwealth of Kentucky wants to make the carmaker and its subsidiaries accountable for “false and misleading promotion and sales of its vehicles,” referring to the Dieselgate-affected cars.
The Kentucky flag 1 photo
Photo: Flickr user Gage Skidmore
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear filed a suit against Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi in the Franklin Circuit Court. The Attorney General seeks civil penalties for violations of the Kentucky State Consumer Protection Act, as well as a directive prohibiting comparable future practices by the German company, Automotive News reports.

Kentucky has become the fifth US State to sue the German corporation. Additionally, Volkswagen is being taken to court in over 500 civil lawsuits, and is also involved in a legal action initiated by the US Justice Department.

South Korean authorities have also prepared a legal battle, and it looks like other US states might follow the example of New Jersey, Texas, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

As you surely know by now, Volkswagen sold around 11 million vehicles worldwide fitted with systems that tricked emission testing equipment. The German company’s practices were first exposed in September 2015, when officials initially denied the information. Shortly afterwards, officials admitted to the wrongdoing and proceeded to seek solutions for the affected vehicles.

Unfortunately, six months later, Volkswagen has yet to fix the 11 million vehicles affected by the situation. As it appears, the proposed solutions submitted by the German corporation have not been approved by Government authorities in several states. The propositions were criticized for being too vague, and for not explaining how the modifications would reduce emissions of NOx (nitrous oxide) gas.

Along with that explanation, Volkswagen has to improve the emission control systems on those 11 million cars without affecting maximum output, performance, and fuel economy. Otherwise, the company risks other lawsuits from owners, as the changes would make those cars different from the specifications advertised at the time of sale. A situation like this would be damaging to the already-affected company, which now suffers from an image problem.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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