Court ruling forces Volkswagen to exchange customer's manipulated diesel vehicle: Report

BERLIN - The Hamburg dealership of German carmaker Volkswagen has been ordered by the city's Regional court to exchange a manipulated diesel vehicle against a brand-new version, the radio station "NDR" reports on Friday.

The lawyer of the customer who filed the lawsuit described the judicial ruling as a "non-plus -ultra" verdict which could set a precedent for a new raft of court cases in the ongoing "dieselgate" scandal.

According to "NDR" the plaintiff purchased a Volkswagen "Tiguan" model three years ago, only to discover that his diesel vehicle was affected by illegal software which falsified nitrogen oxide emission levels in daily use.

The judges ruled that the plaintiff had the right to a brand-new vehicle which had not been tampered with and which complied with regulatory emissions limits as advertised. A technical upgrading did not offer a satisfactory solution as it would result in faster wear of the purchased vehicle than reasonably anticipated by the customer.

The verdict is not yet legally-binding, granting the Volkswagen dealership the possibility of appeal. A spokesperson for the Volkswagen mother corporation in Wolfsburg told "NDR" on Friday that the case was only one of many similar lawsuits and emphasized that other courts had previously ruled in favor of the carmaker.