Car makers opted to cheat, court told

CAR manufacturers decided they would "rather cheat than comply with the law" over vehicle emissions, the High Court has heard, in what is the biggest legal action of its kind in English history.

- CALLUM PARKE & NINA MASSEY

Around 1.6 million motorists are taking legal action against more than a dozen manufacturers over claims that several diesel vehicles made from 2009 onwards contained "prohibited defeat devices" (PDDs).

Barristers for the motorists claim that the devices installed in the cars allowed the vehicles to detect when they were being tested and alter the amount of harmful emissions produced so that they fell within emissions regulations. This allowed the vehicles to pass emissions tests when actual outputs were much higher, which a trial in London has been told meant the cars breached regulations, and therefore meant there was a breach of contract.

The case follows a High Court ruling in 2020 that Volkswagen installed unlawful "defeat devices" in thousands of its diesel vehicles, in a case known as "Dieselgate".