Mercedes emissions scandal: Daimler AG must pay damages to our client

/ emissions scandal, judgments / Daimler, Euro-6, Mercedes

With a judgment of April 20, 2021, our law firm achieved another success in the Mercedes emissions scandal before the Düsseldorf Regional Court.

The district court awarded our client – the driver of a Mercedes-Benz C 200 d – a claim for damages and ordered Daimler AG to take back the vehicle and repay the purchase price, taking into account compensation for use.

Unauthorized temperature-dependent shutdown device in vehicles with the engine “OM 626"

In this specific case, the vehicle in question was a Mercedes C-Class with Euro 6 emissions standards and an OM 626 diesel engine. The court followed our reasoning and was unequivocal in its ruling.

Daimler AG, which has sole internal knowledge of the group, did not explain during the proceedings that the development and implementation of the (illegal) vehicle control software in the form of a so-called “thermal window" was carried out without the approval of its board of management. However, even if Daimler AG could do so, the uncontrolled behavior of individual employees would constitute a so-called organizational deficiency, for which the company would have to accept equal responsibility, and thus a claim for damages would also exist.

Nevertheless, the court comes to the conclusion that, based on normal living conditions and experience, there is a very high probability that these events took place with the knowledge and approval of the group's management board.

Another milestone in proceedings against Daimler AG

We see this ruling as a further milestone for consumer protection and the investigation of the diesel scandal. As long as the automakers continue to stonewall and refuse to acknowledge the specific knowledge of the respective management board, the courts will have to rule this way.

So calculate now your claim and get free advice!

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