Carmakers chose to cheat to sell cars rather than comply with emissions law, ‘dieselgate’ trial told
Car manufacturers decided they would rather cheat to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first day of the largest group action trial in English legal history has been told.More than a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.They allege the “prohibited defeat devices” could detect when the cars were under test conditions and ensure that harmful NOx emissions were kept within legal limits, duping regulators and drivers.Should the claim be upheld, estimated damages could exceed £6bn.
The three-month hearing that opened at London’s high court on Monday will focus on vehicles sold by five manufacturers – Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën – from 2009.In “real world” conditions, when driven on the road, lawyers argue, the cars produced much higher levels of emissions.The judgment on the five lead defendants will also bind other manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover, Vauxhall/Opel, Volkswagen/Porsche, BMW, FCA/Suzuki, Volvo, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and Mazda, whose cases are not being heard to reduce the case time and costs.Opening the case for the claimants, Thomas de la Mare KC said: “Each player in the industry basically took a conscious decision that customer convenience, which helped the industry sell more cars, was more important than reducing pollutants causing death.”In written submissions, the claimants quoted a Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air report that found excess NOx emissions had caused 124,000 premature deaths in the UK and Europe between 2009 and 2024.
De la Mare told the high court levels of emissions could have easily been reduced had vehicles had larger tanks for AdBlue – an additive that cuts NOx in diesel vehicles – and asked customers to refill them.Instead, he said: “They have basically said the concern about making these cars sellable by removing these inconveniences is so strong … that we would rather cheat than comply with the law.”The lead barrister also told the judge, Mrs Justice Cockerill, that manufacturers were trying to argue that numerous prior dieselgate rulings abroad, including in the US and European court of justice, did not apply to the UK.He said: “Our position is broadly that we will rely on foreign regulatory decisions as a matter of fact, rather than an opinion on law.”He said the defendants’ argument meant that “mainland GB becomes a sort of defeat device Brexit Island … But Northern Ireland is applying case law that you’re being asked to put in the bin.
”Internal training and briefing documents from Ford in 2010 on defeat devices showed that “the manufacturers could and did understand the law exactly as we do now”, De la Mare said.Lawyers for the defendants will make opening statements later this week.The car manufacturers deny having used prohibited defeat devices.In written submissions, lawyers for Renault said the case was “riddled with errors and misunderstandings, especially about the design and operation of the vehicles’ emission control systems” while Ford’s said it was “scientifically illiterate”.Mercedes said the claimants case was “obsessively focused” on NOx pollution rather than other emissions, and did not “acknowledge the complexity” of diesel engineering.
Lawyers for Nissan said the case’s central legal premise was “an untenably broad reading of defeat device”.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe main trial, establishing the evidence, is expected to conclude before Christmas, with a break before legal arguments are heard in March 2026.A judgment is expected next summer, with a further trial for possible compensation following.Adam Kamenetzky, from south London, a lead claimant among the 1.6 million owners, told the Guardian outside court: “For the first time, certainly in the UK if not in any jurisdiction, the evidence is actually being made public.
“If these allegations are borne out, consumers were deceived at the point of sale, and there needs to be action taken to prevent this kind of deception being built into cars,”Clean air campaigners including Mums for Lungs and Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella’s death was the first to be officially linked to air pollution, demonstrated outside court,Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said that “illegal pollution from diesel vehicles has caused thousands of premature deaths in the UK,” adding that she hoped for a “day of reckoning” over the use of the fuel,The landmark claims have been brought by more than 20 law firms, led by Leigh Day and Pogust Goodhead,Leigh Day’s senior partner Martyn Day said the claims, “if proven, would demonstrate one of the most egregious breaches of corporate trust in modern times”.
Alicia Alinia, the chief executive of Pogust Goodhead, said the case would go “the heart of corporate accountability and environmental justice”,
Luther Burrell claims speaking out about racist abuse ended rugby career
The former England player Luther Burrell has alleged he was effectively forced to retire after he spoke out about racist abuse he suffered from teammates.Burrell first alleged he had been the victim of racism while playing for Newcastle in 2022. Among the allegations he made at the time, Burrell claimed a teammate had referred to him as a “slave” and told him to apply sunscreen to his wrists and ankles as that’s “where your shackles were”.Speaking on Monday to the BBC, Burrell said the investigation that began after he made the claims caused his opportunities to dry up and that despite wanting to keep playing he has been unable to find a contract at a professional club for the past three years.“I have absolutely had to retire because of what’s gone on,” Burrell said
Australia targets offshore wagering threat with major sporting events on horizon
The threat of organised crime and the emergence of new offshore wagering havens in tiny jurisdictions such as Vanuatu will be a focus of Australia’s largest gathering of sports integrity professionals this week, as the nation prepares to host at least one major international sporting event each year in the run-up to the 2032 Brisbane Games.Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) will bring together the codes, law enforcement agencies and wagering companies with the goal of establishing a major events taskforce on Wednesday, after a separate Victoria police summit on Tuesday featuring 200-plus integrity experts.Although there has been cooperation for previous events such as the 2015 men’s Asian Cup and 2023 Women’s World Cup, the new arrangements reflect SIA’s new coordination role under sports integrity treaty the Macolin Convention, amid heightened awareness of the cross-border character of illegal wagering.James Moller, head of strategy and international policy at SIA, said it is “well understood” what to do when an alert arrives from local wagering partners around suspicious betting within domestic sport, but interstate and international collaboration can be less straightforward.“You could have athletes arriving in Western Australia, in New South Wales, in Queensland, you could have gambling happening in a different state or territory, and the sports betting environment is truly global,” Moller said
Smith-Schuster left with bloody nose after Lions-Chiefs ends in ‘childish’ brawl
The Detroit Lions’ matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs was expected to be feisty, but few thought it would end in a literal fight on Sunday night.The Chiefs had started the season poorly, by their high standards, and were coming off a painful loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. But they dominated the Lions, who have suffered a string of injuries to their defense, on both sides of the ball to secure a 30-17 victory and move to 3-3 for the season.But the evening ended with players from both teams flooding the field after a fight started for the most petty of reasons. Lions safety Brian Branch refused to return a handshake from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the game ended
Brydon Carse reveals Stokes and Wood are close to 100% and ‘raring to go’ for Ashes
Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are expected to be “raring to go” for the start of the Ashes next month, offering England a timely boost that sits in contrast to Australia’s ongoing concerns over the fitness of Pat Cummins.As the two seamers with prior experience of playing Test cricket in Australia, Stokes and Wood are central to England’s plans this winter. Stokes missed the fifth Test against India with a shoulder injury, however, while Wood sat out the entire English summer following knee surgery back in March.Things appear to be coming together, at least, with the pair recently training in the heated outdoor nets at Loughborough alongside their Durham teammate, Brydon Carse. While Cummins says he is “unlikely” to be ready for the first Test in Perth that starts on 21 November due to his lower back stress issue, England could have a full complement of seamers at their disposal
Pogacar rules cycling world with total pedal power after brushing off mid-season blues
A fifth successive Il Lombardia triumph completed another dominant season for the Slovenian, while on the women’s tour Pauline Ferrand-Prévot divided opinionTadej Pogacar’s command of world cycling now seems limitless. The man from Slovenia ended 2025 as he began it, dominating a coveted Italian classic, Il Lombardia, to win the “race of the falling leaves” for the fifth consecutive time.The 27-year-old started his European season by winning the Tuscan gravel race, Strade Bianche. He closed it having matched Italian icon Fausto Coppi’s record of five Lombardy wins and Eddy Merckx’s achievement of winning three “monument” races, the Tour de France and the world road race title in the same year.In late July, however, a weary Pogacar talked about early retirement and a sense of burnout, even as he took his fourth yellow jersey
Has Drake Maye ended the Patriots’ painful Tom Brady hangover?
Plenty of franchises spend decades looking for a star quarterback. New England appear to have found one after a few short years in the wildernessYou have to feel for the Browns, Jets, and Bears. Those franchises have spent decades in quarterback purgatory, rotating through prospects and placeholders. Meanwhile, after just five years of searching, the Patriots – the post-Tom Brady Patriots – appear to have found the guy.Five years
China’s Temu more than doubles EU profits to nearly $120m despite having only eight staff
Global financial system vulnerable to shocks amid recent stock market surge, Bank of England chief warns – as it happened
Markets rebound amid latest US-China tariff spat as traders look to possible ‘Taco trade’
Greenpeace threatens to sue crown estate for driving up cost of offshore wind
Lloyds warns motor finance scandal could cost it nearly £2bn as bill rises
One of Europe’s biggest farm machinery firms halts US exports over ‘hidden’ tariffs