By order of the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), Daimler has to recall models of the E-Class in the emissions scandal. The KBA published the recall under the code 5496128 on December 3, 2020.
According to the authority, models of the Mercedes E-Class built between 2009 and 2011 are affected by the recall. Worldwide, Daimler has to order approx. 4,000 affected vehicles into workshops, in Germany there are a little more than 900. These are models the Mercedes E-Class with the OM 651 diesel engine and the Euro 5 emissions standard.
The KBA has found an inadmissible defeat device or an inadmissible reduction in the effectiveness of the emissions control system in the vehicles concerned. A software update for the engine control must now be installed in the workshop.
The long-term consequences of a software update on the engine, e.g. on performance, wear and tear or consumption, is completely uncertain. The fact that the vehicles are affected by an inadmissible defeat device often leads to a loss of value. Since this is a mandatory recall by the Federal Motor Transport Authority, there is a risk that the vehicle will be decommissioned if the update is not installed.
One way out for the affected Mercedes buyers can be to assert claims for damages. Even if Daimler repeatedly takes the position that it has not used any inadmissible defeat devices, the courts are increasingly seeing this differently and award the injured consumers compensation for deliberate immoral harm.
Most recently, Daimler suffered bitter defeats in the emissions scandal before the OLG Naumburg (Az .: 8 U 8/20) and the OLG Cologne (Az .: 7 U 35/20). Both higher regional courts have sentenced Daimler to compensation. The courts did not allow the appeal to the BGH. “These OLG judgments are groundbreaking in the Mercedes emissions scandal,” says lawyer Dr. Ingo Gasser, who enforced damages for the buyer of a Mercedes CLS 350 CDI at the Stuttgart Regional Court (Az .: 23 O 37/20).
The prospects for damages have also increased due to the statements of the ECJ Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston. On April 30, she had stated that she considered defeat devices to be inadmissible if they lead to higher pollutant emissions in normal road traffic. Exceptions are only possible to a very limited extent.
“Against this background and due to the case law of the higher regional courts in Cologne and Naumburg, it is likely to become increasingly difficult for Daimler to convince the courts of the admissibility of the defeat devices,” said lawyer Dr. Gasser, cooperation partner of the IG Diesel scandal.
More information: https://www.ingogasser.de/abgasskandal-mercedes/
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