What have Mercedes-Benz done?

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) found that Mercedes installed a cheating software in their diesel engines that limited emissions readings during vehicle emissions testing and therefore misrepresenting the actual emissions during real-world driving. The nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of the engines as a result didn’t comply with EU regulatory requirements.

Mercedes-Benz’s parent company Daimler has been fined £776 million by the German prosecutors over this emissions scandal. The KBA has now ordered Mercedes to recall around 90,000 vehicles in England and Wales.

We’re aware that litigation has been instigated against Mercedes in other jurisdictions including Germany, Canada and the United States.

Why choose Slater and Gordon?

Slater and Gordon are leading experts in Group Litigation. We’re the Joint Lead Lawyers in the Volkswagen Emissions Group Litigation where we act for around 70,000 people. That claim is thought to be the largest group action in British legal history in terms of numbers of claimants and is worth hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation. We’ve recently achieved a major victory for the claimants by proving that VW fitted 1.2 million vehicles with ‘defeat devices’. You can read about this here.

We’re now investigating very similar claims against Mercedes following the recall of tens of thousands of BlueTEC diesel vehicles.

Why should I register my interest?

We consider that it’s unacceptable that customers have been sold vehicles which do not comply with emissions regulations.

We’ll be arguing that affected vehicles produce levels of NOx that are higher than the law permits, when driven on the road. NOx is a combination of the pollutants Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide and has been associated with, amongst other things acid rain, global warming and respiratory conditions, such as childhood asthma. We believe manufacturers should adhere to the rules limiting the amount of pollution their vehicles emit. That’s why we’re suing Volkswagen, and that’s why we think Mercedes also have a case to answer.

As well as the environmental and ethical reasons for holding Mercedes to account, there’s also the very real possibility that owners have overpaid for a vehicle which doesn’t comply with emissions regulations and that now needs to be fixed. It may also be the case that the fix itself has consequences to the fuel consumption and performance of your vehicle. If this is the case, we’ll bring a claim for those additional costs too.

Am I eligible to join the claim?

You may be eligible to take legal action if your vehicle is manufactured by Mercedes and:

• has a diesel engine
• was made between 2008 and 2018
• was acquired by way of lease or outright purchase, either new or second hand

How do I register my interest?

If you believe that your vehicle is affected or you’ve received a recall notice from Mercedes-Benz and would like us to investigate your potential claim for compensation, please click here to provide us with your details. We’ll keep you informed of our progress and if we consider there’s a valid claim to pursue we shall invite you to become a client of Slater and Gordon.

For more information visit our Mercedes-Benz emissions scandal FAQ.