Compensation after diesel scandal: consumer advocates are suing Daimler


Status: 07/07/2021 12:20 p.m.

In the VW case, consumer advice centers have fought for compensation for tens of thousands of diesel drivers. Now they want to achieve the same for Daimler customers affected by exhaust gas manipulation and have filed a lawsuit.

After their success at Volkswagen, consumer advocates want to force the car manufacturer Daimler to give in in the scandal surrounding manipulated diesel engines with a model declaratory action.

According to its own information, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) brought such a lawsuit before the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart (OLG), with which fundamental questions can be clarified in advance for all individual compensation proceedings by Mercedes customers.

The consumer advocates essentially accuse Daimler of having installed different shutdown devices in its affected diesel cars. This enables manufacturers to ensure that cars comply with the permissible limit values ​​for exhaust gases during type approval. In road traffic, however, they sometimes significantly exceed this limit.

A model lawsuit relieves the courts, which then no longer have to clarify in each individual case whether Daimler intentionally installed such shutdown devices and whether that was immoral, said vzbw board member Klaus Müller in a conference call.

50,000 people affected could join the lawsuit

According to vzbv, around 254,000 Daimler vehicles in Germany are affected by official recalls. In its model lawsuit, however, the association focuses on a certain type of engine (OM651). This means that the owners of almost 50,000 Mercedes GLC and GLK models could join in, which could be shut down without a software update.

Despite the official recalls that have taken place, Daimler continues to deny that it had deliberately manipulated the emissions levels of its vehicles. The group announced that it would defend itself against all claims in a test case.

A model declaratory action could “clarify important legal issues more efficiently, which we generally welcome,” said Daimler. To what extent this will be possible in this case remains to be seen. The case law in the individual proceedings is currently “almost exclusively in our favor,” added the group.

Sue for individual claims yourself

The model declaratory action was introduced at the end of 2018 as a new legal instrument to strengthen consumers – also with a view to the diesel scandal – in the battle of strength with corporations. Such a lawsuit is being brought against a company by an association on behalf of the consumers concerned. A procedure ends with a settlement or a judgment.

Consumers registered in the relevant register of complaints at the Federal Office of Justice can then invoke this, but would still have to sue for individual claims themselves.

Last year, the vzbw had reached an agreement on compensation with Volkswagen on behalf of car owners affected by the diesel scandal as part of a model declaratory action suit against VW.



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