BMW, Daimler and VW found guilty of colluding to delay emissions tech The European Comission's preliminary findings has revealed that the trio of biggest German manufacturers - BMW, Daimler & the Volkswagen Group - had colluded to restrict the use of emissions-reducing technology between 2006 and 2014.
Together with their subsidiary brands, Audi & Porsche, the carmakers held secretive meetings in their so-called "circle of five" and took a collective decision to "limit the development and roll-out of emission cleaning technology for new diesel and petrol cars sold in the European Economic Area".
The BMW Group, Daimler and the Volkswagen Group posted respective turnovers of €97 billion (£83.4bn), €167 billion (£143.5bn) and €174 billion (£149.5bn) in 2018. Quote:
The Commission said that one of the technologies affected by the scheme would have reduced harmful nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars. The other was designed to filter emissions in gasoline vehicles.
"Restricting competition on innovation for these two emission cleaning systems ... denied consumers the opportunity to buy less polluting cars," the EU regulator said in a statement.
The Commission said the carmakers would get an opportunity to respond to its preliminary conclusion. The companies face fines of up to 10% of their annual worldwide sales.
| CNN The Verge |