VW hit by further lawsuits

Volkswagen has endured another difficult few days after it was announced that the German states of Hesse and Baden-Wuerttemberg were suing the company for damages over its emissions-test cheating scandal.

They are claiming for compensation for after the value of their shares in the company plunge following dieselgate.

Hesse finance minister Thomas Schaefer said the drop in VW’s share price had cost the state about €3.9m, while Baden-Wuerttemberg said it had lost around €400,000.

Last month Bavaria said its state pension fund for civil servants had been devalued by up to €700,000 and would file a suit later this month at the regional court of Braunschweig, which has revealed it’s already received about 450 suits.

Myriad equities investors are now seeking compensation for VW, with some reports estimated that the total value of suits will exceed €10.7bn by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, Porsche has also been embroiled in the scandal with a group of international investors seeking €2.2bn in compensation for not disclosing the issue earlier. It’s also been reported that Audi head of development Stefan Knirsch will be suspended as part of the investigation into the emissions scandal.

A year after dieselgate, VW has fixed less than 10% of cars effected in the UK.