CASE STUDY:
Volkswagen Group Emissions Scandal
Canada
Value: $2.1 billion
Services: Investigations, Forensics, & Risks
PROBLEM
The widely reported Volkswagen Group emissions scandal resulted in the commencement of a nation-wide class action on behalf of owners of diesel vehicles against the Volkswagen Group (including the manufacturers of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche automobiles) and Bosch (the designer, supplier and seller of the software used in the emissions scandals) when Volkswagen Group disclosed that it had manufactured and installed devices (called “defeat devices”) in certain of its diesel vehicles. The defeat devices activated emissions controls that would allow impacted diesel vehicles to comply with established emissions standards during emissions testing only. However, during regular day-to-day use, the diesel vehicles were non-compliant with established emissions standards. Delta Consulting Group Canada was retained on behalf of the Canadian owners of the impacted diesel vehicles to assist counsel for the class in determining if there were accepted approaches to quantify aggregate class-wide losses suffered on behalf of the entire putative class.
SOLUTION
Using publicly available information, Delta’s forensic accountants and loss quantification specialists obtained a thorough understanding of the Volkswagen Group’s emissions scandal. Through detailed analyses and the exercise of significant professional judgement, Delta devised seven different approaches to quantifying class-wide aggregate losses (each of which had their own unique heads of damages) in order to account for the uncertainty associated with future potential courses of action by the Volkswagen Group to rectify the emissions scandal, and to account for the then-unknown penalties and/or government-imposed restrictions to vehicle owners for operating diesel automobiles that failed to comply with established emissions standards.
OUTCOME
Delta detailed its analysis of the various loss quantification methodologies in an expert report for court-purposes, which included diagrams and flow-charts that graphically depicted the unique damages scenarios and associated heads of damages. Delta’s report was used by counsel on behalf of class members to reach a $2.1 billion nation-wide partial settlement with the Volkswagen Group in relation to a specific category of impacted diesel vehicles.
KEY CONTACT