Carmakers face key trial in UK lawsuits, decade after 'dieselgate' scandal

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Some of the world's biggest carmakers are facing a pivotal trial at London's High Court on Monday, with lawyers representing 1.6 million claimants accusing them of cheating diesel emissions tests, a decade on from Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' scandal.

In one of the largest mass lawsuits in English legal history, owners of diesel vehicles made by Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE, Ford F.N, Nissan 7201.T, Renault RENA.PA and the Stellantis-owned STLAM.MI brands Peugeot and Citroen allege the companies used unlawful 'defeat devices'.

These devices detected when vehicles were being tested and ensured emissions were kept within legal limits, but did not do so when the cars were on the road, the claimants' lawyers say.

The manufacturers, however, say the claims are fundamentally flawed and reject any similarity with the scandal that erupted in 2015, which cost Volkswagen VOWG.DE billions of euros in fines and compensation.

Mercedes-Benz said its emission control systems were legally and technically justified.

'DEFEAT DEVICES' TRIAL BEGINS

The trial will focus on a small sample of diesel vehicles produced by the five manufacturers, who are being sued by nearly 850,000 claimants, to determine whether they employed prohibited defeat devices. Any damages the court might rule should be paid would be decided at a further trial next year.

The court's ruling will also be binding on hundreds of thousands of similar claims against other manufacturers including Stellantis-owned Vauxhall/Opel and BMW.

Martyn Day, one of the claimants' lawyers from the firm Leigh Day, said the allegations, if proven "would demonstrate one of the most egregious breaches of corporate trust in modern times".

When VW admitted using defeat devices in emissions tests, it led to the carmaker having to pay more than 32 billion euros ($37 billion) in vehicle refits, fines and legal costs, while former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn faced criminal charges, though his trial was suspended on health grounds this month.

LITIGATION, FINES AROUND THE WORLD

It is not the first time London's High Court has been asked to decide on defeat devices, having ruled against VW in 2020. VW settled those claims without any admission of liability in 2022.

The current group of claims, against a total of 14 manufacturers, is far larger than the VW case, with the claimants' lawyers previously valuing the litigation as a whole at around 6 billion pounds ($7.97 billion).

Automakers are facing lawsuits around the world, including in the Netherlands where a court ruled in July that diesel cars sold by Stellantis brands Opel, Peugeot-Citroen and DS contained defeat devices, a ruling Stellantis said was wrong.

Manufacturers and suppliers have also paid fines and reached settlements in the United States and elsewhere to resolve investigations into diesel vehicle emissions.

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