Illinois Dealer Sues VW for Diesel-Related Damages

A lawsuit by a three-dealership chain in Illinois accuses Volkswagen AG of criminal racketeering and fraud for rigging of 580,000 diesels to evade U.S. emission standards.

The 111-page complaint also claims VW wilfully deceived Napleton Automotive Group, which bought its third VW dealership in September, only three days before the carmaker’s cheating was revealed, Automotive News reports. The subsequent scandal has significantly reduced the value of the acquisition, according to the lawsuit.

Napleton's suit, which seeks class-action status, further alleges that VW favored some of its U.S. dealers over others with a “systematic, illegal pricing and allocation scheme.”

VW’s national dealer council formed a six-member committee last week to negotiate restitution from the company and urged dealers not to go to court. But a frustrated Napleton President Ed Napleton says he filed anyway because VW has “wholly failed” over the past six months to respond to dealer concerns, leaving them “in the red, and in limbo.”

Napleton’s lawsuit is being handled by Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, a law firm that also represents VW diesel customers.