carmakers

A 2010 Nissan Leaf Zero Emission is showcased at the Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C. A British court case pointed to Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroen, Renault and Nissan as its named defendant as global car producers proclaim innocence in the emission test scandal. File Photo by Madeline Marshall/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Europe’s years-long “dieselgate” scandal is set to begin court proceedings Monday in Britain’s high court that potentially could impact over one million car owners and a handful of manufacturers.

The landmark trial described as the largest class action lawsuit in English and Welsh history is the culmination in a decade-long legal battle over allegations at least five major car manufacturers utilized software that allowed new cars to reduce its emissions under testing conditions.

It pointed to Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroen, Renault and Nissan as its named defendants. But the global car producers proclaim innocence.

“A decade after the ‘dieselgate’ scandal first came to light, 1.6 million (British) motorists now get their chance to establish at trial whether their vehicles contained technology designed to cheat emissions tests,” attorney Martyn Day, part of 22 law firms representing drivers, told the BBC and the Independent.

Scores of other car makers — including Opel, Hyundai/Kia, Porsche, Volkswagon, BMW, Suzuki, Toyota, Volvo, Mazda and Jaguar Land Rover — may face similar action depending on outcome.

The “dieselgate” emissions scandal was exposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 following the revelation that a number of diesel-powered VW models contained deceptive emissions-monitoring devices.

On Monday, Day said if the court ruled on the side of consumers that it would “demonstrate one of the most egregious breaches of corporate trust in modern times.”

“It would also mean that people across (Britain) have been breathing in far more harmful emissions from these vehicles than they were told about, potentially putting the health of millions at risk,” Day added.

However, the companies have attempted to push back against allegations of wrongdoing.

A Mercedes spokesperson said its test mechanisms were “justifiable from a technical and legal standpoint,” while Ford stated the claims had “no merit.”

According to Nissan, it was “committed to compliance in all markets in which we operate.”

In May, a German court convicted four ex-Volkswagen officials of fraud years after “Dieselgate” got exposed.

Australia’s high court in 2019 fined Volkswagen a record $86 million in the emissions scandal.

It arrived as the British commonwealth nation preps to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 along with more than 100 other nations that agreed to reduce maritime emissions in opposition to U.S President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, a judgment in Britain’s “dieselgate” case is not expected until sometime mid-next year. A later hearing to determine compensation could follow if Britain rules against the carmakers.

British carmakers will meet ministers on Friday morning to discuss their response to US President Donald Trump’s placing 25% tariffs on car imports from next week, the BBC understands.

The UK government is trying to negotiate exemptions from a wide range of US import levies due to come into force at midnight on 3 April.

Some car companies believe it is now too late to delay the measure, and instead want to start discussing support options.

The UK has said it will “not be jumping into a trade war” with the US, in contrast with other nations such as Germany which has said it “will not give in” and urged Europe to “respond firmly” to the taxes.

Government sources said there is “still all to play for” in negotiations over 25% tariffs placed on car imports into the US ahead of next week.

Trump has used powers designed to avert national security threats to levy the tax.

Vehicles are the UK’s biggest export to the US, totalling 101,000 last year worth £9bn.

The industry is likely to ask for a support package from the UK government to manage the disruption.

The government is already consulting on changing the mandate for zero electric vehicles, which could end up costing UK manufacturers and subsidising importers such as Tesla, which is controlled by key Trump ally Elon Musk.

Other countries such as France and Canada have vowed trade retaliation against the US, with Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney – the former governor of the Bank of England – saying his country would “fight” and that the longstanding Canada-US relationship is “over”.

Only a handful of ministers and officials know the content of the UK’s talks with the US administration, which are believed to be about the whole package of tariffs, not just the car sector.

While progress has been made, one negotiator said it will all come down to Trump.

Earlier this week he insisted there would be no carve-outs for car imports, but deals are being done across the globe over wider so-called “reciprocal tariffs” expected next week.

Tariffs could have a major impact on the UK, including wiping out Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s £9.9bn worth of headroom against her self-imposed borrowing and debt targets.

In its report on Wednesday’s Spring Statement, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) examined a number of scenarios of what tariffs would mean for the UK.

In the most extreme scenario, the independent forecaster said that if “global trade disputes escalate to include 20 percentage point rises in tariffs between the USA and the rest of the world”, it could reduce economic growth by as much as 1%.

The OBR says that would more or less wipe out the headroom the government is predicted to have by 2029-30, reducing it “to almost zero”.