A Federal Court judge has slapped Volkswagen with a record $125 million penalty over its emissions cheating scandal after expressing outrage at a “manifestly inadequate” $75 million settlement agreement reached with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The judge overseeing the settlement approval process in multiple class actions against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal has criticised an application for a common fund order by the funder backing two Bannister Law-led lawsuits.
The two law firms leading a class action against Toyota over allegedly defective filters in the car giant’s diesel models will be able to recover the legal costs of only one firm, a judge has said.
Japanese auto maker Mazda is facing regulatory action from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for allegedly refusing to provide purchasers of defective vehicles with a full refund or no-cost replacement, amid a continuing threat of a possible class action over alleged defects in certain vehicles.
Responding to a class action on behalf of over 250,000 car owners, auto giant Toyota has admitted issues with filters in three of its diesel vehicle models but says drivers who failed to respond to warning lights in their cars could not clam damages for any breaches of quality guarantees.
Law firm Bannister Law is probing a possible class action against Mazda after the automotive giant recalled tens of thousands of diesel vehicle models due to engine safety defects.
A judge is considering whether he can increase a record $75 million civil penalty settlement reached by Volkswagen and the ACCC over the dieselgate scandal, after saying the people of Australia would be “upset” if they knew about some of the “outrageous” terms to which the consumer watchdog had agreed.
The litigation funder bankrolling a new class action against Toyota over allegedly faulty filters in its diesel models is looking to earn a step-up commission of between 20 and 30 percent of any recovery in the case.
The judge overseeing the long-running class action over allegedly faulty Ford PowerShift transmissions has told the applicants they might need to put up considerable cash security to cover the “war and peace of discovery” disputes, after Ford slammed the delayed request for documents as “complete and utter nonsense”.
Japanese car maker Nissan is facing the threat of a class action in Australia over the continuously variable transmission in its Pathfinder sports utility vehicle, after recently settling five similar class actions in the US over the allegedly faulty transmissions.