Five carmakers go on trial in UK over diesel emission cheat claims

Some of the world’s biggest carmakers manipulated diesel emissions tests because they “would rather cheat than comply with the law,” lawyers for over 1.6 million claimants told London’s High Court on Monday, at the start of a huge trial.

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A decade on from Volkswagen’s (VW) “dieselgate” scandal, which cost the German automaker billions of euros, the claimants are suing rival manufacturers in one of the largest mass lawsuits in English legal history.

Owners of diesel vehicles made by Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Nissan, Renault and the Stellantis-owned brands Peugeot and Citroen between 2012 and 2017 allege the companies cheated emissions tests.

The manufacturers are accused of using unlawful “defeat devices,” which detected when vehicles were being tested and ensured nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions were kept within legal limits under test conditions.

The claimants’ lawyers say NOx emissions were far higher when the cars were on the road — in some cases up to 12 times test limits — causing harm to the environment and entitling consumers to compensation.

The manufacturers, however, say the claims are fundamentally flawed and argue there are justified reasons why systems to control emissions are calibrated to work differently in certain conditions.