EU rules Mercedes must pay damages for diesel defeat devices

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled Mercedes-Benz must pay owners compensation if there are damages from vehicles fitted with a diesel ‘defeat device’.

However, it is now up to German courts to decide whether the software is unlawful.

It comes after the case was brought by a used Mercedes car owner in Ravensburg due to the vehicle allegedly reducing its exhaust gas recirculation feature at lower temperatures – resulting in increased harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

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Mercedes denied to Reuters that it used any defeat devices to change the vehicle’s emissions levels depending on the environment to hide the true level of exhaust pollutants and cheat official emissions tests.

A spokesperson for the automaker told Automotive News Europe that vehicles already recalled with a software update can still be used “without restriction”.

In the United Kingdom, Mercedes was hit with more than 300,000 owner claims last month at London’s High Court – alleging its diesel-engined vehicles are equipped with defeat devices that only lower NOx outputs at a particular temperature range.

It follows the Volkswagen Group’s infamous ‘Dieselgate’ emissions scandal in 2015.

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US environmental authorities discovered that it intentionally programmed its turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to only activate emissions controls during laboratory testing – but vehicles emitted up to 40 times more NOx in real-world driving.

Subsequently, lawsuits and hefty fines hit the German automaker globally, including a $125 million charge from the Australian Federal Court for breaching Australian Consumer Law.

However, unlike Volkswagen, Mercedes’s software allegedly doesn’t detect when it’s being tested for emissions – it only limits its NOx reduction system outside a temperature range.