Massive UK dieselgate lawsuit reaches court in landmark case
A trial involving five major carmakers opened at London's High Court Monday, marking the latest chapter of the dieselgate emissions scandal that has rocked the auto industry for a decade.
The High Court will decide in a three-month trial whether systems installed in Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and Nissan diesel vehicles were designed to cheat clean air laws.
The trial of the five lead defendants will set a precedent for other manufacturers, potentially paving the way for billions of pounds in compensation.
The claims were brought on behalf of 1.6 million motorists against 14 carmakers, including Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, Vauxhall-Opel and BMW, among others.
Martyn Day, lawyer at Leigh Day representing the claimants, said the case impacts "nearly all the manufacturers in this country."
The dieselgate scandal first erupted in September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted to fitting millions of vehicles with software to make engines appear less polluting in regulatory tests than in real driving conditions.
It caused waves in the global car industry, ensnaring several other top carmakers and leading to legal action in multiple countries.
The court in London will examine evidence to determine whether major carmakers installed so-called defeat devices in cars to reduce nitrogen oxide readings in order to cheat emissions tests.
The five lead defendants deny that their systems were designed to circumvent the tests.
The trial must first determine whether carmakers are liable, before a separate compensation phase can follow next year.
When the High Court in 2020 found Volkswagen had used defeat devices to cheat emissions tests, the automaker settled out of court, paying 193 million pounds ($259 million) to 91,000 British motorists.
Overall, to date, Volkswagen has had to pay more than 32 billion euros ($37 billion) in penalties over the scandal, mostly in the U.S.
