Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and the Justice Department want a U.S. judicial panel to centralize in Detroit hundreds of civil lawsuits alleging the German automaker defrauded consumers and shareholders, according to court filings. The U.S. Multi-District Litigation panel will hold a hearing Dec. 3 in New Orleans to determine if and where to consolidate more than 350 lawsuits that stem from the automaker’s admission in September that it installed illegal software in nearly 500,000 vehicles to circumvent U.S. diesel emission tests. Earlier this month, U.S.