The district court in Braunschweig says it has sent the cases onward to the regional court for selection of a model plaintiff from among several hundred private and institutional investors.
A decision on the model plaintiff's case could then be applied to others who have brought suit.
Investors claim that Volkswagen did not inform them in a timely way of the impending scandal over cars with software that enabled them to cheat on emissions tests in the United States, depriving them of a chance to decide whether to sell the stock.