Volkswagen isn’t alone choking in dirty diesel smoke. The Wolfsburg automaker has implicated two of its biggest rivals, Daimler and BMW, as allegedly colluding with it on diesel-emissions systems since the 1990s.
A report in German magazine Der Spiegelclaimed that Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW have conspired to form anti-competitive agreements in developing the diesel-emissions systems. At issue is an agreement to standardize the size of urea-injection tanks used in cleaning the exhaust stream. Another involves non-diesel issues such as agreeing to set a top speed at which convertible tops can operate (approximately 30 mph). The report claims that executives from each car brand met more than 60 times to discuss these and other business issues, although there’s no proof they were trying to hide anything with the intent to block competition rather than collectively meeting to develop standards, which the industry does all the time.
The report cited a letter from Volkswagen to the European Commission last summer, as part of the ongoing diesel investigation, that suggested the automaker and its rivals had committed antitrust violations. The European Commission has since admitted it has opened a separate investigation but said it is “premature at this stage to speculate further.”
Der Spiegel reported that, if the companies are found liable, German law could fine all three automakers up to a total of about $54 billion. In the United States, a cartel lawsuit would bring criminal charges. At this point, nothing has been proved beyond what little information Volkswagen has revealed.
In the wake of VW’s diesel scandal, German and U.S. authorities have been cracking down on other automakers for allegedly cheating emissions tests with their diesel models, including Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. All have denied the reports. Fiat Chrysler has been formally sued in court by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Still, Mercedes-Benz is now offering free software upgrades for three million cars in Europe that will improve diesel emissions based on the “latest knowledge gained during the development of the new family of diesel engines.” BMW is performing similar updates on 350,000 cars, while Audi says it will update another 850,000 cars that are currently in compliance. The updates do not apply to cars in the United States.
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