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A decade after Volkswagen sent shockwaves through the automobile industry by admitting it had cheated on emissions tests, 13 of the world’s biggest carmakers are gearing up to defend a multibillion pound lawsuit over whether they all deceived regulators about harmful gases produced by diesel vehicles.

Hundreds of thousands of motorists in the UK are suing manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan over claims they installed “defeat devices” to manipulate tests for nitrogen oxide emissions. The claimants are hoping for thousands of pounds each in compensation.

The lawsuit, which barring a last-minute settlement will go to trial next week at the High Court in London, is among the most aggressive attempts in the world to widen liability for “dieselgate” beyond Volkswagen. It will be one of the largest collective actions in English legal history.

The Germany-based carmaker admitted in 2015 to installing software in 11mn vehicles worldwide to make them appear more environmentally friendly than they were. The dieselgate scandal has since cost VW more than €30bn and four of its former executives have received jail terms.

VW is not one of the “lead defendants” in the first part of the case beginning on Monday — although it is part of a larger group of defendants that could be affected by the eventual ruling.

Among the claimants is Adam Kamenetzky, who bought a Mercedes-Benz diesel car in 2018. While he had some scepticism given the earlier admissions by VW, the 45-year-old in south west London said he went ahead with the purchase, reassured by its emissions figures.

But he began having suspicions after encountering several technical issues including problems with its nitrogen oxide sensors. Though the sensors were repaired for free after he made a complaint, he said the value of the vehicle has dropped due to the unpopularity of diesel.

“I wanted to see justice,” said Kamenetzky, who joined a claimant committee that represents motorists to raise public awareness.

A defeat for the carmakers would once again shake trust in the auto industry, just as it is trying to draw a line under the dieselgate scandal.

While some manufacturers other than VW have reached settlements over allegations of diesel emissions manipulation in the US, they have mainly done so without admitting liability. All the manufacturers deny the claims against them in the London court case.

The scale of the claims in part reflects a boom in diesel car sales in the UK after tax breaks introduced by former Labour chancellor Gordon Brown favoured vehicles with lower carbon dioxide emissions.

But the sales surge came to an abrupt end after the 2015 emissions scandal brought to the fore concerns about nitrogen oxides, which are linked to health conditions including asthma, and can form smog.

From a peak share of 51 per cent of the UK’s new car market in 2012, diesel vehicles now account for only 3 per cent last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, a trade body. New sales of these cars are to be banned from 2030.

A total of 1.6mn vehicle owners have brought claims against the 13 carmakers, though those against only five of the companies — covering 846,500 claimants — are going to trial next week.

The lawsuit epitomises a new breed of mass claims in the UK, financed in part by hedge funds and other specialist litigation funders.

“Law firms and funders have invested hugely in this case,” said David Greene, head of commercial disputes and class actions at law firm Edwin Coe, who is not involved in the case. “If it were to be lost, I think that would be quite a blow.”

The court selected the five carmakers as “lead defendants” in an attempt to narrow what one defendant lawyer in the highly complex case said would otherwise be “unmanageable” litigation. The findings on law by the presiding judge, Mrs Justice Sara Cockerill, will establish precedent to apply to the other manufacturers.

Various other carmakers have long faced allegations around the world that they cheated on emissions tests, albeit not on the scale of VW.

In the US, Daimler, since renamed Mercedes-Benz, settled outstanding cases for roughly $2.2bn in 2020. Fiat Chrysler, now part of Stellantis, has paid out about $800mn in 2019 to resolve civil claims and another $300mn in 2022 in criminal penalties.

Carmakers have also faced litigation in Europe. Diesel emissions cases are pending in the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany. 

Yet the lawsuit in England and Wales would be one of the most consequential in Europe.

“We certainly accept that VW was an extreme example” of cheating on tests, said Martyn Day, co-founder of Leigh Day, the lead claimant solicitor firm on the case. “But we expect the judge to find that there were defeat devices in each of the vehicles.”

The value of the lawsuit has not yet been formally quantified, though claimant lawyers have said compensation could come to several thousands of pounds per vehicle owner — amounting to a total bill to the car industry running into billions.

The first part of the trial, to be heard over 10 weeks, will examine whether the manufacturers installed defeat devices, contrary to the law.

Even if liability is established, another trial would need to go ahead before the size of any payouts can be determined. The industry would be likely to contest the degree to which the misleading of regulators about emissions necessarily translates into financial losses for car owners.

Next week’s trial will even feature sample vehicles — 20 in total, across the five defendant manufacturers. Examiners at various testing centres across England have assessed how nitrogen oxide emissions compare during different conditions.

The tests that regulators originally conducted were carried out under particular conditions — at set inclines and driving speeds, for instance. The claimants argue that the “defeat devices” were designed to reduce emissions under these circumstances.

In court documents, claimant lawyers contend the manufacturers programmed the vehicles to detect when they were being examined. Nitrogen oxide emissions were “materially higher” during normal vehicle operation than the levels recorded in official tests, they maintain.

VW is among the wider group of defendants in the case, despite having earlier reached a £193mn settlement in the UK in 2022.

The settlement covered a different engine and concluded with no admission of liability. In relation to the latest case, VW said it “continues to hold the view that these claims are not justified, regrets that they have been made, and intends to defend them robustly”.

Lawyers for other carmakers are expected to argue in court that the claimants are seeking erroneously to associate the rest of the industry with the VW dieselgate scandal.

Carmakers are set to argue that the claimants have misunderstood the vehicles’ emission control systems and that their case is fundamentally flawed.

Mercedes-Benz, which is facing the largest number of claims in the case, said it has voluntarily been carrying out software updates on certain types of its diesel vehicles to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

“We continue to take steps to mitigate the impact of vehicle emissions and to further climate protection and air quality,” it said.

The German group has also said it would “vigorously defend” itself against the claims which it believed were without merit.

Ford, Nissan, Renault and Stellantis, the European group behind Peugeot and Citroën, also said their vehicles and engines were all compliant with applicable standards, and that they would defend the claims.

But Kamenetzky said he was “kind of stuck with” his Mercedes-Benz, given the decline in diesel car values.

“I’m needing the payout — to be able to purchase a car that actually does have sufficient technology to be clean.”