Several of the world’s biggest carmakers have defused a multibillion legal threat hanging over the industry as they largely fought off a mass legal action over claims they cheated on emissions tests for diesel vehicles.The High Court in London on Friday rejected the bulk of allegations made on behalf of about 1.6mn motorists in the UK who sued manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan.
However, the ruling left the door open for targeted compensation claims. The court made “adverse findings in relation to certain specific strategies”, including by Peugeot/Citroën.
The case is among the largest and most complex cases in English legal history and one of the most aggressive attempts in the world to widen liability for “dieselgate” beyond Volkswagen.