Volkswagen must pay compensation to a German plaintiff who had bought one of its diesel minivans fitted with emissions-cheating software, Germany’s highest civil court has ruled.

The ruling sets a benchmark for about 60,000 other cases in Germany.

Herbert Gilbert will be partially reimbursed for his vehicle, with depreciation taken into account.

The German auto maker said it would now offer affected car owners a one-off payment. The amount will depend on individual cases.

VW has already settled a separate €830 million class action suit involving 235,000 German car owners.

The company said in a statement on May 25: “For the majority of the 60,000 pending cases, this ruling provides clarity as to how the [Federal Court of Justice] assesses essential questions in German diesel proceedings.

“Volkswagen is now seeking to bring these proceedings to a prompt conclusion in agreement with the plaintiffs. We will therefore approach the plaintiffs with the adequate settlement proposals.”

VW has paid out more than €30 billion in fines, compensation and buyback schemes worldwide since the scandal first broke in 2015.

The company disclosed at the time that it had used illegal software to manipulate the results of diesel emissions tests.

Volkswagen said that about 11 million cars were fitted with the “defeat device”, which alerted diesel engines when they were being tested. The engine would then change its performance in order to improve the result of the test.

VW’s current and former senior employees are facing criminal charges in Germany.

Volkswagen must pay compensation to a German plaintiff who had bought one of its diesel minivans fitted with emissions-cheating software, Germany’s highest civil court has ruled.

The ruling sets a benchmark for about 60,000 other cases in Germany.

Herbert Gilbert will be partially reimbursed for his vehicle, with depreciation taken into account.

The German auto maker said it would now offer affected car owners a one-off payment. The amount will depend on individual cases.

VW has already settled a separate €830 million class action suit involving 235,000 German car owners.

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The company said in a statement on May 25: “For the majority of the 60,000 pending cases, this ruling provides clarity as to how the [Federal Court of Justice] assesses essential questions in German diesel proceedings.

“Volkswagen is now seeking to bring these proceedings to a prompt conclusion in agreement with the plaintiffs. We will therefore approach the plaintiffs with the adequate settlement proposals.”

VW has paid out more than €30 billion in fines, compensation and buyback schemes worldwide since the scandal first broke in 2015.

The company disclosed at the time that it had used illegal software to manipulate the results of diesel emissions tests.

Volkswagen said that about 11 million cars were fitted with the “defeat device”, which alerted diesel engines when they were being tested. The engine would then change its performance in order to improve the result of the test.

VW’s current and former senior employees are facing criminal charges in Germany.