VW and Mercedes suffer further blow over rule-breaking emissions devices

Car owners can get 5% to 15% of the car price, minus the monetary advantages, judges ruled.

Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz suffered another blow in the long-running litigation over customers’ right to payouts when their diesel cars were equipped with rule-breaking software to sidestep anti-pollution systems.

In a key ruling, judges at Germany’s highest civil court decided they would allow more drivers to collect compensation and said carmakers can now escape liability only if they can prove there was no way to know the software they used was illegal.