Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën face group action in which damages could exceed £6bn
Car manufacturers decided they would rather cheat to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first trial day of the largest group action in English legal history has been told.
More than a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.
They allege the “prohibited defeat devices” could detect when the cars were under test conditions and ensure that harmful NOx emissions were kept within legal limits, duping regulators and drivers.
Should the claim be upheld, estimated damages could exceed £6bn. The three-month hearing that opened at London’s high court on Monday will focus on vehicles sold by five manufacturers – Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën – from 2009. In “real world” conditions, when driven on the road, lawyers argue, the cars produced much higher levels of emissions.
