After VW and Daimler is now BMW in the US because of the exhaust gas scandal in court. If the plaintiffs get law, that could cost the Munich Dax Group hundreds of millions – and the good image.
BMW headquarters in Munich
Wednesday, 28.03.2018
20:57 clock
Little time? At the end of the text there is a summary.
Newspapers and television news in the US only needed a few phrases. It’s about a new class action lawsuit that specializes in such procedures,Law firm Hagens Berman against the German carmaker BMW wants to make an effort. They want to help the owners of X5 and 3 Series SUVs, who allegedly let themselves be seduced by the promises in the catalog.
The pollutant emissions of the full-bodied advertised as environmentally friendly cars is much higher than stated. The emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides would have been up to 27 times higher than the applicable limit values. “Nobody would have bought these cars if BMW had told the truth,” says Steven Berman, managing partner of the law firm.
There are already a whole series of such complaints. Next Volkswagen are now also available Daimler. Fiat Chrysler, ford and General Motors in court. so now six carmakers are affected
Class action only the beginning
BMW should not take the procedure too easily. Because it’s about a lot of money. Disappointed X5 and 3 owners would – if the lawsuit succeeds – be entitled to compensation and the opportunity to BMW to force the repurchase of their vehicle, the lawyers promise. How big the group of plaintiffs is, however, is not yet clear, the law firm does not want to give numbers. It would be new every day, it is only said. Therefore, one can only speculate about a concrete sum.
But this (private) class action lawsuit is not enough. If the allegations prove, could also come from the state side a lot on the Munich Dax Group. Taking the comparison to the scale that Volkswagen negotiated with regulators and consumer advocates in October 2016 would cost an estimated $ 300 to $ 400 million for BMW.
Much bigger still should be the damage to the image, which would carry BMW in the event of a conviction. First scratches are already visible. On the one hand there is the faulty exhaust gas software, which the group had reported to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) at the end of February, combined with the worldwide recall of 11,700 cars.
Looking for the “smoking Colt”
In the past week – one day before the presentation of the annual balance sheet – the public prosecutor’s office Munich I therefore had with about one hundred officers searched offices at the corporate headquarters and some development sites, Also the case of the 3-BMW, which the German environmental aid Many people still remember a drastic exceedance of exhaust emission limits.
So far, however, in none of the cases mentioned has a proof of the allegations found. The prosecution emphasizes that it is only a matter of initial suspicion, the KBA has explicitly certified the incriminated BMW after a review, in accordance with the registration requirements. And yet there is a growing danger that the impression is solidified that something must be right when a suspicion is so often formulated.
Especially as inconsistencies appear, which arouse the suspicion of the investigators. For example, according to the SPIEGEL, BMW has made an attempt to get a sedan of the 7 Series again under his wingwhich should be examined by the experts of the KBA. In the Federal Ministry of Transport one suspects that the car should be trimmed with a software update and so any manipulation should be covered up. BMW vehemently contradicts this presentation.
Lots of inconsistencies
Because of a model of this series, a procedure is also pending in Bamberg. Plaintiff owns a company that makes catalysts. He had detected extremely high pollutant levels in the exhaust gas in his own measurements. As proof to the contrary, BMW provided an appraisal by TÜV Süd certifying that the car was in perfect condition.
Even the lawyers of Hagens Berman have yet to prove the allegations raised in their recently published application. There is much to suggest that the process will be similar in length, as in the cases of Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. Not least because of the fact that the facts are extremely complex and evidence is difficult to manage.
However, the process is still in its infancy and it is difficult to judge how much substance is in the lawsuit. BMW keeps covered first. “But we examine the lawsuit very thoroughly to understand exactly how the allegations look,” it said in a statement.
In summary: So far, BMW has successfully resisted all allegations of having manipulated the exhaust systems of their cars. But the number of evidence is growing – and now the Munich still have to defend against a class action lawsuit in the US. That could be extremely expensive in an emergency.