Major carmakers handed dieselgate victory in UK

AFP | London

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The High Court in London yesterday ruled largely in favour of five major carmakers accused of installing devices in diesel cars to cheat clean-air laws, as the dieselgate saga rumbles on.

"The Court rejected most of the principal allegations advanced against the manufacturers whose vehicles were examined" in the latest dieselgate trial, Justice Sara Cockerill said in a statement.

Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and Nissan had all denied their systems were designed to circumvent emissions tests for the air pollutant nitrogen oxides.

The dieselgate scandal erupted in September 2015, when German automaker Volkswagen admitted to fitting millions of vehicles with software to make engines appear less polluting in regulatory tests than in real driving conditions.

Second trial

While the UK court on Friday favoured the carmakers, Cockerill added that they would still face a second trial in October to determine a level of damages.

This is because the Court made "adverse findings in relation to certain specific strategies", including a coolant device in Mercedes cars and a strategy used in some Peugeot-Citroen cars, the judge added.