A federal court has granted final approval of a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging defects in about 500,000 gasoline-powered Porsche vehicles, model years 2005 through 2020. The class representatives alleged defendant Volkswagen engaged in two practices to skew the emissions and fuel economy test results for such vehicles: one tactic of physically altering test vehicles that impacted CO2 emissions and fuel economy results, and a second that impacted emissions test results of certain vehicles with a high-performance “Sport+” mode.
The settlement of this class action lawsuit has happened through many stages in recent months. As US Auto Law previously reported, the plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of class settlement in this matter in June 2022. The court preliminarily approved the motion in July 2022, the parties moved for final approval of the settlement in August 2022, and the Court held a final approval hearing in October 2022, before entering its November 2022 order granting final approval to the settlement. The settlement provides a fund of at least $80 million, and up to $85 million, to compensate class members.
The Court’s order also granted the plaintiffs attorneys’ fees amounting to 30 percent of the net settlement fund, more than $700,000 in litigation expenses, and service awards of $250 each for 33 class representatives.
One named class member has appealed the settlement thus far to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The case is In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, case number 3:15-md-02672, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
You can read the Court's Order here:
