The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) on Wednesday filed a class action lawsuit against car maker Daimler for using illegal defeat devices in certain diesel cars of its flagship Mercedes-Benz brand, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The defeat devices were meant to ensure that the cars in question complied with the permissible limits for exhaust gases in test settings but in some cases exceeded them significantly on the road, according to the vzbv.
The model case procedure is intended to provide clarity to car owners in Germany about whether they could claim monetary damages. "Despite recalls by authorities, Daimler AG still denies having intentionally manipulated the emissions values of its vehicles," said Klaus Mueller, executive director of the vzbv.
A total of 254,000 Daimler Mercedes-Benz diesel cars have already been recalled by the German authorities. The lawsuit now focuses on up to 50,000 Mercedes GLC and GLK models with the four-cylinder engine type OM651, according to the vzbv.
The lawsuit is also intended to protect the claims of car owners, whose Daimler vehicles had already been recalled in 2018, from becoming time-barred, the federation noted. Affected customers in Germany could join the model case procedure in the coming weeks.
Daimler considers the asserted claims "unfounded" and would continue to defend itself, the company told the German news agency dpa on Wednesday. However, the model lawsuit could "clarify important legal issues more efficiently, which we welcome in principle."
In the emissions scandal that dates back to 2015, Volkswagen was the first German car maker to be convicted of using illegal defeat devices. In addition to class action lawsuits such as the one against Daimler, tens of thousands of individual lawsuits have been filed against the country's car makers in recent years.