Daimler Truck: ECJ defeat over garbage truck cartel

Created: 08/01/2022, 1:48 p.m

A figure of the blind Justitia.

© Sonja Wurtscheid/dpa/symbol image

Daimler Truck is threatened with compensation payments due to a price cartel in the sale of garbage trucks to the Northeim district in Lower Saxony.

According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Monday, the garbage trucks were affected by unlawful collusion, which led to higher purchase prices (Case C-588/20).

Luxembourg - The background to the action for damages is a decision by the EU Commission from July 2016, in which the then Daimler AG and other truck manufacturers were fined a total of almost three billion euros for price fixing.

The district of Northeim then sued Daimler for damages.

The case is now returning to the Hanover Regional Court.

Daimler Truck, Daimler's commercial vehicle division, was spun off from the Daimler Group at the end of 2021.

"Of course we accept the decision of the European Court of Justice," said a spokesman for Daimler Trucks of the German Press Agency.

However, against the background of the EU Commission decision made in 2016, Daimler Truck cannot understand the ECJ's interpretation of special vehicles.

"We are still convinced that our customers have not suffered any damage." dpa