Last week, the High Court outlined a timetable in the emissions scandal group action, and decided to add cases involving Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and Nissan vehicles as lead actions, along with Mercedes-Benz and Ford.

This will ensure that these manufacturers will be the first to have to explain their actions to the Court and have their engineering evidence scrutinized by experts appointed by the Claimants Group.

In addition, the Court has set “hard and realistic” court deadlines for the legal issues to be tried in these claims.

The first trial window will take place in October 2024 with the actions likely to conclude by 2026.

The messaging from the Court to all defendant manufacturers in the diesel emissions group actions is clear: it will not tolerate defendant manufacturers trying to hide behind court procedure and taking unnecessary technical points to try and delay the ultimate outcome of these cases involving millions of claimant car users.

To that end, the Court has expressed itself in no uncertain terms that these cases will be actively case managed to ensure court deadlines are complied with and adjournments or delays will be avoided.

The Court’s timetable provides the parties with a clear roadmap to conclusion. The timetable will see whether:

• the German Motor Regulator’s decisions are compatible and binding in English Courts;
• whether there was an existence of ‘defeat devices’ in the vehicles and whether any device broke the law; and
• whether any breach led to a loss for Claimants and how to compensate for that loss.

This is good news for all claimants looking to hold the motor industry to account for falsely claiming their vehicles met Euro emissions standards.

In May 2022, Volkswagen Group settled 91,000 emissions claims out of court for £193m after a five-year dispute. With Volkswagen Group being the largest car manufacturer in the world, this settlement indicates that other manufacturers should be prepared to resolve Claimants’ claims promptly, and certainly a considerable time before the timetable concludes in 2026.

Johnson Law Group Managing Director, Jamie Patton, says, “We are delighted that the High Court is taking proactive steps to case manage this huge litigation, which we are confident will lead to securing compensation for our clients much sooner than the heel dragging manufacturers would have hoped for. Judgement is coming!”

Manufacturers are likely to be reluctant to pay any sum, though it will be clear to them that creating further delays is no longer an option for them.