Daimler AG cannot get out of the diesel emissions scandal. Now the home court of the car manufacturer, the Stuttgart Regional Court, has also commissioned an expert opinion that is not very positive: Even under ideal operating conditions in terms of test situation and weather, a Mercedes Benz E-Class 350 CDI does not comply with the nitrogen oxide limit.
The noose for Daimler AG as the manufacturer of the premium brand Mercedes-Benz is tightening. Not only does it feel that there are weekly consumer-friendly judgments against Daimler AG in the Mercedes exhaust scandal with far-reaching liability for damages due to intentional immoral damage according to § 826 BGB. Now the home court of Daimler AG, the Stuttgart Regional Court, has also commissioned an expert opinion that is not very positive for the car manufacturer and once again makes it clear that Daimler AG is really in the middle of the emissions scandal.
The report shows: Even under ideal operating conditions in terms of test situation and weather, a Mercedes Benz E-Class 350 CDI does not comply with the nitrogen oxide limit. The vehicles only comply with the specified limit values for nitrogen oxide on the test bench, while on the road they emit many times what is permitted. The background: At the beginning of 2020, the LG Stuttgart commissioned an expert report to clarify whether the nitrogen oxide emissions of a disputed E-Class are above the legally permitted limit value for Euro 5 diesel of 180 milligrams per kilometer. In September 2020, several test drives took place in real operation, which were monitored and evaluated by an expert. The results speak for themselves. On all four trips, the vehicle emitted far more than the permitted 180 milligrams per kilometer of nitrogen oxide, namely between 452 and 681 milligrams per kilometer.
“Daimler AG had denied that there were inadmissible disconnection devices in the vehicle and that the vehicle would not comply with the limit value on the road. The report is now increasing the pressure on Daimler AG and suggests that further consumer-friendly rulings in the Mercedes exhaust scandal will be expected in the near future. It is a blast that the Mercedes Benz E-Class 350 CDI at issue is de facto miles away from complying with the limit values even under optimal conditions. We are not talking about marginal exceedances, but about limit values that are sometimes almost four times as high as the permitted. By the way: The law stipulates that a vehicle must comply with the emission limit values under normal operating conditions. That means that Daimler AG even had an advantage in the exams, ”explains Mönchengladbach attorney Dr. Gerrit W. Hartung from the Dr. Hartung Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (www.hartung-rechtsanwaelte.de). The law firm deals exclusively with investor and consumer protection issues and specializes in advising those affected by the emissions scandal. Dr. Gerrit W. Hartung is considered a “diesel lawyer” from the very beginning.
Many Mercedes-Benz diesels are equipped with illegal defeat devices. “The engines of the types OM651, OM622, OM626, OM654, OM642 and OM656 are particularly affected. Consumers who have suffered harm have a far-reaching chance of receiving compensation from Daimler AG for deliberate immoral damage by way of a fraud liability suit and of handing over the scandalous vehicle, ”says lawyer Dr. Gerrit W. Hartung out.
Incidentally, in January (judgment of January 28, 2020, case number: VIII ZR 57/19), the diesel lawyer ensured that German courts have been ruling more and more consumer-friendly in the Daimler emissions scandal. Together with a cooperating BGH lawyer, he fought that claims for damages in the emissions scandal against Daimler AG could not simply be dismissed by a court as allegations “in the dark”. “This also applies if there is no recall from the Federal Motor Transport Authority due to an impermissible defeat device. Rather, according to the BGH, the court is required to obtain an expert opinion that has been offered, since otherwise the plaintiff’s right to be heard would be violated, ”explains the consumer protection attorney. The fact that Daimler AG can no longer hide behind business and trade secrets in the Mercedes diesel emissions scandal and must comment on the functionality of shutdown devices for exhaust gas cleaning, for example, has also been issued by the Cologne Higher Regional Court (May 18, 2020; Az. : 24 U 419/19).
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