By David McLaughlin
Volkswagen AG was sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for allegedly deceiving consumers by promoting "clean diesel" vehicles that were actually rigged to pass pollution tests.
Volkswagen deceived consumers by selling or leasing more than 550,000 diesel cars based on false claims that the cars were environmentally friendly and met emissions standards, the FTC said in a statement Tuesday.
“For years Volkswagen’s ads touted the company’s ‘Clean Diesel’ cars even though it now appears Volkswagen rigged the cars with devices designed to defeat emissions tests,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.
The FTC is seeking a court order requiring Volkswagen to compensate American consumers who bought or leased an affected vehicle between late 2008 and late 2015. The affected vehicles include 2009 through 2015 Volkswagen TDI diesel models of Jettas, Passats, and Touareg SUVs, as well as TDI Audi models, the FTC said.
“Volkswagen has received the complaint and continues to cooperate with all relevant U.S. regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission,” said Jeannine Ginivan, a Volkswagen spokeswoman, in an e-mailed statement.
The case is FTC v. Volkswagen Group of America Inc., 16- cv-01534, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
--With assistance from Jeff Plungis.
Bloomberg
