More than 300,000 owners of Volkswagen vehicles, which are equipped with manipulated exhaust gas control systems, have joined the class action lawsuit against Volkswagen, the German Federal Office of Justice (BfJ) announced on Wednesday.

Approximately 294,000 owners of VW vehicles had signed up for the template lawsuit against Volkswagen by Dec. 28, said Thomas Ottersbach, spokesman of the Federal Office of Justice.

However, many more people would have signed up to the lawsuit during the three days until Dec. 31, meaning that the lawsuit against Volkswagen would have been joined by well over 300,000 people, according to the BfJ.

The claims for damages against Volkswagen regarding exhaust gas manipulations of diesel vehicles expired on Dec. 31 2018. The subscription to the lawsuit prolongs this limitation period for the plaintiffs.

In November, a template lawsuit against Volkswagen was filed by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) and the German automobile club (ADAC) in order to create a legal basis which all VW customers affected by the diesel scandal can refer to when making individual claims.

In Germany, this lawsuit, in which several plaintiffs unite to press charges collectively and resolve key questions to set a legal precedent, is the first of its kind. Such lawsuits were only recently introduced by German legislation in response to revelations of exhaust gas manipulations by the automotive industry.