Renault
At the court's request, Renault took a deed at the final formal stage of these proceedings on 26 April 2023. The court subsequently determined that the hearing will take place on 29 January 2024. Based on this hearing, the court will determine whether there is sufficient cause and basis to continue the proceedings. This is therefore not yet a final judgment
The court had already ruled at the interlocutory judgment on 1 February earlier this year that, based on the number of car owners who registered with it, Emission Claim Foundation was sufficiently representative to be allowed to represent the group of duped Renault car owners. Emission Claim Foundation also views this latest formal step with confidence.
After this final formal phase, the substantive phase of the proceedings will finally begin. It will be concluded with a settlement or a final judgment. Naturally, we will keep you informed of the proceedings through these newsletters.
Mercedes
On 14 March earlier this year, Mercedes and the Dealers replied in writing to Stichting Emission Claim's summons on appeal. In doing so, Mercedes also filed its own appeal against the district court's ruling, which focuses mainly on the jurisdiction of the Dutch court.
On 23 May 2023, Emission Claim Foundation replied in Mercedes' appeal, explaining (again) that the Dutch court does have jurisdiction to decide this dieselgate case. All parties subsequently requested a hearing.
We now await the court's date setting. We expect the hearing to take place between October and December 2023. Of course, we will keep you updated on the proceedings through these newsletters.
Stellantis
The Court ruled on 16 August 2023 that Emission Claim Foundation is sufficiently representative to act on behalf of its supporters. In addition, the Court ruled that Emission Claim Foundation is deemed capable of adequately representing the interests of victims in the proceedings that the Foundation has brought against car manufacturer Stellantis. In the next phase of the proceedings, the court will consider the fraud that Stichting Emission Claim accuses Stellantis of.
This means a substantive hearing for the damages suffered by aggrieved owners of diesel vehicles of the Peugeot, Opel and Citroën brands due to the presence of sham software in their cars. This will be finalised with a settlement or judgment. Of course, we will keep you updated on the process progress through these newsletters.
International developments
The European court issued another important ruling in a German case brought by a consumer against Mercedes on 21 March 2023, further supporting our proceedings.
Emission Claim Foundation believes that the damages caused by the emissions software fraud should be recovered from the party responsible for that fraud: the car manufacturer. In its ruling of 21 March 2023, the European Court of Justice held that the EC type approval, which the manufacturer provides to the buyer for each vehicle, creates a direct relationship between the car manufacturer and the individual buyer of a motor vehicle that gives that buyer the assurance that this vehicle complies with the relevant Union legislation, including emission standards. This ruling therefore means that the defence that the car manufacturers did not sell the vehicles directly to the buyers (this is done through their dealer network) is off the table and the way is open to recover damages suffered directly from the car manufacturers. The court further held that the member states did not make it impossible or extremely difficult to obtain such compensation.
Whether the relevant vehicle for which compensation is claimed is equipped with a prohibited manipulation device is for the national court to determine. However, in an earlier ruling on 14 July 2022, in a dispute between a number of Austrian consumers and Volkswagen (Porsche), the European Court has already ruled that a so-called 'thermal window', which switches on the emission-reducing software only when the outside temperature is between 15 and 33 degrees Celsius, constitutes a prohibited manipulation device. Emission Claim Foundation believes that all participating diesel vehicles in these proceedings were equipped with such a thermal window, among other things.
This recent ruling thus confirms that the car manufacturers are directly liable for the damages they caused to you as a result of the diesel fraud. We will keep you informed of further interesting developments through this newsletter and press releases.
