Audi, VW Seek Dismissal of Gasoline Engine Defeat Device Class Action

Audi and its parent company Volkswagen are seeking dismissal of claims that some of their gasoline engines are equipped with an emissions testing defeat device similar to those found in certain diesel engines.

In their motion for dismissal, Audi and Volkswagen say the plaintiffs rely on documents and admissions related to the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal that aren’t relevant to Audi’s gasoline engines.

While the plaintiffs in the consolidated Audi class action lawsuit claim to have tested one of the vehicles at issue, the two companies say they fail to state the make, model, year or mileage of that vehicle. None of the plaintiffs make specific allegations of how much decreased fuel economy they suffered because of the alleged defeat devices, the companies claim.

Audi and Volkswagen further state that none of the plaintiffs even claim to own the vehicle that was allegedly caught cheating on emissions testing – a “rare” Audi A8L with a 12-cylinder engine.

A separate motion for dismissal was filed by vehicle parts manufacturer Bosch, also a named defendant in the defeat device litigation. According to Bosch, the plaintiffs’ allegation that it supplied parts for Audi gasoline engine vehicles is insufficient to raise a claim against the company over the alleged defeat devices.

Fourteen Audi class action lawsuits were filed around November 2016 by 22 plaintiffs from several different states after a German newspaper reported that California regulators had discovered automated emissions cheating in certain higher-end Audi vehicles with gasoline engines.

The gasoline engine claims were consolidated into a single complaint filed in October 2017. According to the plaintiffs, the Audi gasoline engine defeat device purportedly deactivates during normal driving, allowing the engine to produce carbon dioxide emissions in excess of the EPA’s fleet-wide emissions standards.

Word of the gasoline-engine defeat devices came out in November 2016, when German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported the California Air Resources Board had discovered defeat devices in several Audi models equipped with gasoline engines and a certain 8-speed automatic transmission.

The device purportedly works by directing the transmission to shift at unusually low speeds as long as the steering wheel is not turned 15 degrees or more. The low-speed shifting allegedly keeps the engine speed artificially lower and reduces the engine’s carbon dioxide emissions, the plaintiffs claim.

The plaintiffs allege this carbon dioxide defeat device is installed in Audi A6, A7, A8 and A8L vehicles from model years 2012 through 2016 and in Audi Q5 vehicles from model years 2013 through 2016, all with engines 3.0 liters or larger.

At least 100,000 vehicles on the road are equipped with this defeat device, the plaintiffs say. They believe it could be installed in several other as-of-yet unidentified models of Audi vehicles.

Plaintiffs’ counsel includes Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Baron & Budd PC, Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, Keller Rohrback LLP, Motley Rice LLC and Bailey Glasser LLP.

The Audi Gasoline Emissions Defeat device Class Action Lawsuit is Beck v. Audi AG, et al. and is part of the Volkswagen Defeat device MDL, In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:15-md-02672-CRB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.