Did the carmaker deliberately manipulate exhaust emissions? The Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart will deal with this accusation by consumer protection groups next week.
In connection with the diesel scandal, 2,804 Mercedes customers joined a model declaratory action by consumer advocates by the end of June. This was announced by a spokesman for the Federal Office of Justice of the German Press Agency on request. The first oral hearing will take place on Tuesday (July 12) at the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart.
The consumer advocates essentially accuse the car manufacturer of deliberate manipulation of exhaust gas values and want to claim damages for affected customers. The group considers the claims made in diesel lawsuits to be unfounded, a spokeswoman said on request. This also applies to the model declaratory action.
This was submitted by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) last year. It is a kind of “one-for-all” lawsuit: the association goes to court on behalf of the car owners – with less effort and risk for the individual. If customers were granted a right to compensation, they would then have to enforce this themselves.
The consumer advocates had already filed a similar lawsuit against Volkswagen in 2018. At the beginning of 2020, a settlement was agreed, which around 245,000 customers accepted.
