A consumer group in Germany has filed a class-action lawsuit against Daimler, the owner of Mercedes, which aims to clarify whether damages related to the diesel emissions scandal must be paid.
Car emissions. Photo: Ody_Stocker / Shutterstock
Photo: Ody_Stocker / Shutterstock
The case was opened in Stuttgart, where Daimler is headquartered and it stems from an order by the German Federal Transport Authority to recall hundreds of thousands of vehicles made by the company. The recalled vehicles were in needed retrofitting of the exhaust technology.
Many have argued that the automaker used illegal devices to "trick" the emissions testing in a similar way to its rival Volkswagen.
Read more: EU fines Volkswagen and BMW €875m over emissions collusion
"Despite official recalls, Daimler continues to this day to dispute that it deliberately manipulated exhaust emission figures," said Klaus Müller, the head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations.
Activists believe a win in the case against Daimler would also help in damages cases brought by owners of Mercedes cars.
Around 250,000 vehicles were involved in the recall, though this particular case pertains to 50,000 SUV models, mostly GLC and GLK series models.
Daimler has denounced the claims as being "unfounded" and said it would continue to fight against them. It said that the legal action could, however, help to "clear up important legal issues more efficiently, something we welcome in principle."
Read more: The Netherlands files complaint against Stellantis over diesel emissions
Class-action lawsuits were brought in relatively recently in Germany at the end of 2018, partly in response to the Dieselgate emissions scandal. The aim is to give consumers more legal power against large corporations as the complaint is made by an association instead of an individual.
Class-action proceedings on the German and EU model do not result in compensation for consumers in themselves, but the latter can refer to a resulting verdict in making their own individual claims.
To avoid such a class-action lawsuit, Volkswagen Group agreed in April 2020 to pay damages to 235,000 car owners in Germany.
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