The price agreements between the major European truck manufacturers are considered secure, they have already paid several billion euros fine after a decision by the European Commission. In a big trial before the Munich district court, thousands of freight forwarders who have bought the trucks now hope for compensation from the manufacturers.
At the beginning of the trial, the Chamber made it clear that, in principle, they had no objections to the concentration of the lawsuits. The chairman judge Gesa Lutz said that the transfer of individual claims to a legal service provider, which was so far unusual in Germany, does not speak against the admissibility of the claim. There are high hurdles before one can speak of a legal abuse as the defendant companies. "Against this background, a valuation as abusive in law should not be considered."
"Lawsuit of the German middle class"
The defendant truck manufacturers MAN, Daimler, DAF, Volvo / Renault and Iveco had questioned whether the action is permissible at all. Because the freight forwarders have assigned their claims to the process service provider Financialright claims at the initiative of the Federal Association of Freight, Logistics and Waste Management (BGL). In the process, Financialright is the only claimant and collects approximately 30 percent of the compensation amount if successful. Behind this, however, are claims from around 3200 freight forwarders. They demand a total of 867 million euros in damages plus interest.
The forwarders argue that they have paid excessive truck prices because of the cartel. The producers dispute that. They argue that the cartel did not affect the prices actually paid because of the discounts customary in the industry. Due to the former truck cartel, hundreds of other lawsuits are still pending nationwide. The German railway and the Bundeswehr also complain against the cartel.
"It concerns a complaint of the German middle class", said BGL lawyer Alex Petrasincu to the procedure begun now in Munich. The companies alone are not in a position to assert their claims. Overall, MAN and Co. are said to have sold around 85,000 trucks overpriced. An appraiser of the plaintiffs estimates that the cartel led to mark-ups of about ten per cent.
The Swedish truck manufacturer Scania, who like MAN belongs to the VW Group, is not one of the defendants. For the judgment of the European Court of Justice still stands, whether also Scania participated in the cartel. But the plaintiffs in Munich also include buyers of Scania trucks because the cartel has led to inflated prices across the entire European truck market.
The head judge of the cartel chamber, Gesa Lutz, had a year ago for the first time negotiated a complaint of truck buyers. In this case, she has scheduled for November 22, a delivery date.
