On January 4, 2016, the United States Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a civil complaint in federal court in Detroit, Michigan, against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America Inc., Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations LLC, Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America Inc. (collectively referred to as Volkswagen). The lawsuit claims that Volkswagen's alleged misrepresentations allowed almost 600,000 diesel engines to emit excessive air pollution across the country, thus "harming our health and cheating consumers"
In its statement announcing the lawsuit, the EPA added that Volkswagen has not thus far produced a recall plan that is acceptable.
“So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward.”
The complaint is perhaps the first step in negotiating a settlement with the world's 2nd largest car manufacturer. Even though the DOJ did not file any criminal charges against any individual employees of the company, the civil filing does not preclude them from doing so in the future.
