Volkswagen has been ordered by a Paris court to stand criminal trial in France over its role in the diesel-emissions scandal.

Proceedings are not expected to start before 2027, with the court set to discuss scheduling in December this year.

The automaker will face allegations of deceit “concerning goods that endanger human and animal health”, according to an AFP report cited by Bloomberg.

French prosecutors are also pursuing legal action against Renault and two subsidiaries of Stellantis, all of which have rejected the accusations.

The diesel-emissions controversy has implicated multiple carmakers and has cost the automotive sector tens of billions of dollars globally.

The scandal, commonly referred to as Dieselgate, erupted in September 2015, when the US Environmental Protection Agency revealed that Volkswagen’s diesel cars were equipped with the illegal "defeat device" software to circumvent federal emissions tests.

The software detected testing conditions to artificially lower emissions.

This allowed cars to pass lab tests, while emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides during normal driving, violating the Clean Air Act. 

In Germany last year, four former Volkswagen executives were found guilty for their involvement in the affair.

In a separate development, Mercedes-Benz Group, Ford Motor and other manufacturers are parties to a mass class-action-style case in the UK.

Separately, Volkswagen said earlier this month that it has reached production of five million electric drive units globally.

The milestone was achieved collectively by plants in Győr, Kassel, Tianjin and Zuffenhausen, highlighting the group-wide production network supporting its electrification strategy.

The company added that the Volkswagen Group Components competence network underpins this expansion, with the Kassel facility alone raising electric-drive output in 2025 by around 24% year-on-year to more than 850,000 units.