Overview

• OVG Schleswig-Holstein upheld a 2023 judgment that the KBA’s 2016 approval of a VW Golf Plus TDI software update was unlawful.
• The court found two illegal defeat devices in the EA189 Euro 5 update and relied on ECJ precedent that tightly limits motor‑protection exceptions.
• The decision is not yet final, as revision was not admitted but the KBA and Volkswagen can contest that non‑admission at the Federal Administrative Court.
• Volkswagen says it will pursue legal remedies and estimates the ruling concerns a low five‑digit number of vehicles.
• Environmental group DUH, the plaintiff, is pressing for immediate recalls, retrofits or de‑registrations and is advancing further cases involving Euro 5 to Euro 6c models.