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Fri, 10 Jul 2026

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 Major car firms found not to have installed emissions-cheating devices

A High Court judge said some major car manufacturers did not install a device to cheat emissions testing.

* A High Court judge has ruled that most vehicles from major car manufacturers did not contain devices alleged to have allowed them to cheat on emissions tests.
* The ruling came in a case involving over 1.6 million motorists who claimed they had been misled about emissions tests.
* Lady Justice Cockerill found that only one device, used in Mercedes cars before 2015, and another used in some Peugeot-Citroen vehicles, constituted "prohibited defeat devices".
* The court rejected most of the allegations made against the manufacturers whose vehicles were examined at trial.
* Mercedes has welcomed the ruling but disagreed with the judgment on one of its sample vehicles.
* A further trial is scheduled for October to determine the consequences of any actionable breaches and any issues relating to damages or other remedies.
* The case only examined 20 "sample vehicles" made by five manufacturers, but a wider case involving many more models from various carmakers is also ongoing.