Italy court to take on consumer group class action against Volkswagen

MILAN (Reuters) - A court in Venice will hear a class action suit filed in Italy for damages against German carmaker Volkswagen over the dieselgate emissions fraud, an Italian consumer group said on Thursday. Consumer group Altroconsumo said in a statement the suit it had filed on behalf of consumers had been accepted by the court for all Volkswagen brands including Audi, Skoda and Seat. In June last year, a Venice appeals court had accepted another class action suit from Altroconsumo over allegations the German carmaker had understated the fuel consumption of its Golf model. That suit was filed in September 2014 before the dieselgate scandal broke. Volkswagen admitted in 2015 some of its vehicles had been fitted with defeat devices allowing them to get round emissions laws during testing. The company is already facing a number of lawsuits and investigations in relation to the emissions scandal. VW was not immediately available to comment. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes. Editing by Jane Merriman)