MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian consumer group said on Friday an appeals court in Venice had accepted a class action suit against Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) over allegations the German carmaker exaggerated the fuel-saving credentials of its Golf model.
Altroconsumo filed the class action in September 2014, long before Volkswagen was engulfed in a scandal over its cheating of diesel emissions tests and before it admitted last year to understating fuel consumption.
The consumer group had filed a similar class action against Fiat Chrysler (MI:FCHA) that was rejected by a lower court, but also later accepted after an appeal.
Altroconsumo said in 2014 it had done laboratory tests on a Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI BM model, which resulted in emissions 50 percent higher than those declared by the carmaker.
"The carmakers have created false consumer expectations, a truly unfair commercial practice," the consumer group said in a statement.
In the class action it had asked that Volkswagen be ordered to pay around 500 euros ($563) in damages to each owner of the tested model. The class action was lodged with a court in Venice, whose catchment area covers the city of Verona, where Volkswagen has its Italian headquarters.
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